Of Betrayal and Love
by Disgruntled Minion
Summary: What was supposed to be an easy infiltration mission into Heaven goes wrong when Sasuke is captured. With war on the horizon and dark secrets in both realms, it's hard to retain your loyalty; especially when you start to fall for your blond interrogator
1. How it all started

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything else, sadly.

Summary – AU, SasuNaru. Heaven and Hell are getting ready for another all out war, after almost twenty years at an uneasy peace. Naruto is a 'tainted' Angel with a fallen demon sealed inside him at his human birth, and Saskue is a demon Angel from Hell who has been captured as a spy. When a certain blond comes into interrogate him, things become interesting. Sorry, I suck at summaries.

Warnings: There will be some blood shed eventually, and this is a YAOI, no likely, no read. Now that that is out of the way, onto the story…

_Of Betrayal and Love_

_Ani's Girl_

_Heaven vs. Hell. _

_Angels and Demons_

_The fight that has been going on for countless centuries, unseen to human eyes, yet still exists, is a war that is still being fought and cannot be settled. However, during this time, it seems that both sides are resting... preparing for another battle. After their defeat Hell pulled back their troops from the field, Heaven has heard nothing from them, but this does not mean that we are not watching them, as we know that they are preparing for another strike. It is not as though Heaven has not suffered its losses either. We have had many Angels fall down into the pits of Hell and are now aiding the enemy, standing guard over their gates and protecting them so we may not enter._

_These fallen Angels are not to be trusted, especially those who have fallen from a high post and have the knowledge on how to destroy us, (a list of those fallen are listed in the central library). However, we haven't had our gates breached as of yet, thanks to the Warrior Angels who protect the gates and fly into battle when the time comes, and so far, most fallen Angels have been recovered and dealt with by the more higher ups._

_We have peace for now, but everyone knows that it is an uneasy peace and that war can break out in an instance, however, we have our Angels out and we know that we can place great faith in them to watch over us, and we must in turn, give them our support. Unfortunately, we have no idea when or if this war can be settled, so for now we have faith that something will happen soon._

Section of text from _'The Endless War?'_ (Textbook for fifth graders and up) pg 76.

-Author unknown

* * *

A scream sounded from the plane of the mortals before the night was silent again, a calm, deadly quite. The entire mortal plane was feeling uneasy, as it felt like something wicked was seeping out from the ground and poisoning everything that it touched. The animals of the plane knew what was going on and fled the area where it seemed to be coming from, knowing what was seeping out from the ground and having the common sense to leave before something happened. Something was going to happen and they knew it, but the details escaped their grasp as they fled before Hell broke loose.

Death clung to the ground as a figure stalked out of the darkness of a deep lake and moved forward to complete his task. He was so focused on his task as a knife appeared in his hand, that he did not noticed the white wings of an angel behind him.

(Elsewhere)

In the deepest pits of Hell, where darkness ruled with an iron fist and flames cast dark shadows, a forbidden technique was being formed. Forbidden and deadly. However, the man (if he could be called that) did not care what laws he broke, he was already damned in Hell and could not sink any lower so nothing could ebb on his concision. Shadows moved about him and the flames danced in the torches that held them, as he moved around the room, making sure that everything was ready. His eyes narrowed into slits as another figure entered the room.

"This better be good."

It was a pointless question to ask, seeing as his follower would never do anything to upset him.

"We have the child Orochimaru"

He grinned, "Excellent, bring it in."

His follower entered the chamber and set the bundle of blood stained blankets on a smooth, round surface. He pushed a couple buttons, allowing a glass container to rise from the table and encase the baby inside. Meanwhile, Orochimaru had turned his attention back to the project in front of him, where a computer sat in front of him with hundreds of wires connected to another glass container in front of him, filled with green tinted water.

Inside the container, a man with reddish-orange hair hung from thick metal chains. His eyes were closed and it looked like he was sleeping, but he was awake and his body was ready for any chance to escape if the opportunity arose. Outside his glass prison though, wires were being hooked up to the other glass container, and he could faintly hear the beeping noises from the computer and the two talking. Bits of speech reached his ears and it was only then that he began to struggle against the chains that held him.

"You bastards think you can get away with this? I have been nothing but loyal to you since I fell." he snarled

"Perhaps" Orochimaru said, "But who's to say that you will continue to stay loyal? After all, you were loyal to the enemy for much longer than you were us. Besides, you have given me a wonderful chance to test this new technique. A technique to see if a demon can stay alive in a newborn child, one that is completely innocent."

"If I die, you will lose a powerful demon."

"Oh, I don't think you will die, more like you will be contained for a while, besides, and the most interesting part will be once the baby is killed. Since he is so innocent and pure, he will become an angel right away. Think of the possibilities that can come from this if it works."

"You're a monster." the man bit out

Orochimaru smiled, "And that makes you?" he turned to his follower, "Kabuto, start the process."

Kabuto nodded and went to work at the computer, his fingers quickly flying over the keyboard. A burst of bubbles filled the container, turning the water orange and the demon started to feel pain run through his body as the molecules in the water began to affect his energy patterns. Despite his best efforts to keep his eyes open and fight the sleep that was threatening to over take him, he began to lose the battle as he felt himself drift into unconsciousness.

After his mind had shut itself down, his body began to glow and take on a watery form, until nothing but orange water filled the container. Kabuto moved over to the other container and typed out a few key strokes and the container began to fill with the orange water from the other container.

The bundle in the blankets began to move as water filled the space and soon it started to thrash around, as water filled its mouth and nose, and breathing became impossible. Soon the container was full of the orange water and the blanket had stopped moving.

In the water, the demon's mind began to slowly work again as the numbing process quickly wore off and realization hit that he didn't have a body, and the only way for it to continue living was to enter the bundle of blankets where life was slowly fading. The water and contents level began to drop as the demon entered the body, when the plan went wrong.

The door to the lab exploded of its hinges, and Orochimaru glared at the intruder, and fury as well as amusement overtook him as he realized that it was an Angel, and not just any Angel, but one that he had trained with before he himself feel. White hair blended into the white wings that brought light into the dark and damp chamber, but the blood that stained parts of his clothing did not go unnoticed by Orochimaru.

"Jiraiya, it's been a few years, I'd say about twenty or so, and after all this time you still don't have the courtesy to knock. Now I'm going to have to replace that door, and putting in a work order and having to explain how an Angel was able to make it this far into Hell will be annoying."

"Well you wouldn't have to put in a work order if your little lap dog didn't go and steal a human child." Jiraiya answered as he glanced around the room.

Orochimaru turned to look at Kabuto, "Well now Kabuto, I thought we had broken that little habit of yours, looks like you will have to be punished again."

'"I'm sorry Orochimaru, I promise not to do it again." Kabuto said and bowed his head

"There, the boy said he was sorry and I will handle his punishment, so you can go on about your merry way, as Angels always do."

Jiraiya shook his head, "It's not going to work on me Orochimaru, you have committed too many crimes to go unnoticed, including the kidnapping and killing of Angels while we're in a time of peace."

"Pity." Orochimaru said, "Then I will have to kill you."

He raised his arms and the shadows that clung to the walls darted out towards Jiraiya in the forms of snakes that wound around his body tightly. Jiraiya grunted and sent energy to his wings, sharpening them so they easily cut through the snakes, he then moved forward to take on Orochimaru when a blur to his left caught his attention and Kabuto came out of the shadows with a black mist covering his hands. He dodged the attack made toward his heart then squatted and swung his leg out, knocking the younger man on his back.

However, it seemed that as soon as Jiraiya started towards Orochimaru again, he found himself facing Kabuto. Jiraiya's eyes flickered to Orochimaru, who stood near the glass containers with a sadistic grin on his face and then back to Kabuto again, his mind racing.

_'Their_ _trying_ _to keep me away from whatever is in the glass containers._' he thought, but he was unsure why they were protecting an empty container and an almost empty jar of liquidHis only thought was that the liquid could be some form of poison that would be used eventually in the war once it was perfected.

He began once again to dodge the attacks that Kabuto threw at him and eventually found an opening, allowing him to turn the wall into a sticky substance and kick Kabuto into the wall where he was held fast by pink colored flesh, and he started towards Orochimaru again when movement in one of the container's caught every ones eye.

Amusement flickered across both of Orochimaru's and Kabuto's face as the soaked blankets started to cry and a large amount of energy rushed over the group, and it was then that Jiraiya understood.

"You sick bastard," he said, "That's what you took the new born baby for? To do an experiment like this to it."

"Wonderful isn't it." Orochimaru stated, "I had always wanted to try it back in Heaven but the higher ups said it was inhuman. Unfortunately, they were correct as the first twenty or so failed on other humans and demons alike. It seemed that I was at a loss, but then it hit me that a newborn would work best, and the right demon happened to appear at the correct time as well. Ironic isn't it?"

Jiraiya cursed and jumped forward towards the bundle of blankets, only to be forced back by Orochimaru, "It's no use anyway, the baby is technically dead, so he can only go to Heaven, or stay here, which is where I intend to keep him."

"He's an Angel, keeping him will get him tortured, and eventually your higher ups will have him killed, and we both know where that will send him."

"As if you taking him will be any better. He is of mixed race, a hybrid. Your kind would accept him as well as mine would, only probably worse. Angels are so picky about everything being so pure and untainted." Orochimaru taunted

"Somehow I doubt that him staying with you would be better for his well being, and I'll take that chance of him in Heaven. You already ruined his life as soon as he was born; the least that can be done for him is to put him in Heaven where he can grow up in better conditions."

Orochimaru shook his head, "I can't let you do that."

He jumped backwards from Jiraiya and knelt down, quickly drawing a symbol on the stone tile, and then placing his hand over it. The ground started to rumble and the floor began to crack as a large body began to emerge from a dark, black abyss, and began to form into a large blackish, grey snake demon. Orochimaru grinned at Jiraiya as he moved behind the snake and closer to the baby who was still screaming.

"Kill our intruder."

The snake lunged forward, venom dripping from its long fangs, as Jiraiya slipped into the ground. The snake came up with a mouthful of stone and dirt, allowing Jiraiya time to dart away and summon his own demon. He drew a different pattern on the floor and prayed that the demon was not busy at the time.

Luck was with him as the ground below him began to rumble and he soon found himself being pushed up into the air as his demon appeared. He glanced down at the frog that he was standing on, and then out to the container where Orochimaru was still standing.

"What's going on now brat?" his frog demon asked.

"I was in the middle of a nap and I don't like to be summoned, especially in Hell."

"If you don't help me, this whole world will turn into Hell, unless I can get that child and bring back to the higher ups."

The frog grunted and Orochimaru laughed, "Ironic that Angel's won't except a fallen demon's help from Hell when they want to help, but they except the demon animals that cause more damage then a normal fallen demon."

Jiraiya ignored him as he leaned over to look at the frog demon, "I need you to get me over to that container as best you can. I can take Orochimaru and get the baby if you can keep snake breath busy for a while."

"Very well." the demon answered, "You better hold on then, things are about to get rough, and you just better hope that all of Hell doesn't hear this and the snake lover gets reinforcements."

The demon frog leapt forward, landed near the snake, and drew out a short sword, swinging it close to the snakes throat was. The large snake pulled his neck back, and swung his tail around, wrapping it around the frog. Jiraiya took that as his cue and jumped off frogs head and onto the snakes, then slid down the snakes back. He saw Orochimaru glare at him before he picked up the baby and began to run.

Jiraiya quickly followed allowing the two demons to battle and hopefully one of the demons would crush Kabuto who was still stuck to his sticky wall. Orochimaru led him down a dark stone hallway that twisted quickly and suddenly, and also had several traps that went off as soon as the pale man passed by them. Jiraiya cursed him as he dodged one more trap before he stopped and drew another seal on the floor and sent his energy into it. Blue light traveled along the floor avoiding the traps that were set off for him now that Orochimaru had passed, and caught up with Orochimaru where the light twisted around his feet and pulled him into the ground up to his waist.

The baby fell out of his arms as they too were dragged under ground and the blue light cushioned the baby's fall. Jiraiya calmly walked up to the bundle and picked it up then looked down at Orochimaru who glared at him and struggled to free himself from the ground.

"The higher ups may have had trouble sentencing you to damnation, but I won't." he said and held up his hand.

The kick came out of nowhere and Jiraiya stumbled away from Orochimaru but still held the baby tightly. He glanced up and noticed that, unfortunately, the demons had not killed Kabuto.

"That baby doesn't belong to you Jiraiya." he said and held out his hand, "If you will."

From behind him, a loud crash sounded, followed by an avalanche of dirt and stone as several dog demons appeared as well as an Angel with his mouth and nose covered with a mask.

"Sorry I'm late," he said, "I had to stop and help a little mortal cat that was stuck in a tree."

"Shut up." Jiraiya said, "And help me."

The Angel shrugged and a dark energy drifted out of his hand, forming into a bright blue energy around his hand that screamed loudly in the quiet hallway. He ran forward quickly and pushed the energy ball towards Kabuto. It sent Kabuto flying down the hallway and he slammed into the wall then crumpled onto the floor where he lay still, but still alive.

Shouts were heard down the hallway and the two Angel's quickly took off, leaving the two fallen angels to explain what happened to their fellow demons. The night air was cool and crisp and the feeling of dread had vanished from the mortal plane almost as quickly as it had come, by the time the Angel's reached the mortal plane. For a while, neither spoke as they hovered in the air, until the blankets started to move again.

Jiraiya looked down at the bundle, moved the blankets away from the baby's face, and released a soft sigh. "Orochimaru was right, as much as I hate to admit it. He will have a hard time fitting in with this demon inside of him. His life won't be easy."

The masked Angel nodded, "We still need to inform the higher ups about this child. They may sentence the child to damnation."

They continued upwards and passed by the bright gates were the guards let them through, even though they eyed the bundle of blankets in Jiraiya's arms. They made it through the sleepy city towards the higher up tower where a blond, busty figure was waiting for them.

"I take it you figured out what he was up to." she said as they entered the building

"It seems that Orochimaru was trying to combine mortals and demons, making them into a form of hybrid that they can battle with. This was the first successful one." Jiraiya said and handed the bundle of blankets to the blonde-haired person.

She pushed back the blankets revealing a bright blond head of hair and whisker marks on both cheeks. She glanced at his back where a pair of small white wings was already visible; however, they were tinted with black on the tips and near the base of the wings.

"Which demon does he hold?" she asked

Jiraiya glanced up at her, "The fox."

She hissed in annoyance, "I should kill him Jiraiya, give me a reason why I shouldn't kill him right now."

"Because he will become strong with the fox in him, besides, the fox was once a guardian for us, so there is no reason why it can't turn back. Besides, would you rather have that kind of power in Hell?" he questioned. "If he is raised here, he will know what is going on and we know that he won't fall. If he does, I'll personally take responsibility and kill him myself."

Tsunade looked at Jiraiya, and then back to the baby, "Fine, but who will want to raise him. He is," she hesitated slightly, "tainted, after all."

The grey haired Angel looked up at the question, "I'll take him to Iruka. If anyone can teach a child right from wrong, Iruka can. This will also insure that several stronger Angels can watch over him and watch for any signs of trouble."

Tsunade nodded and handed the child to him, "Very well, take him to Iruka, Kakashi, but I want to see you two tomorrow so we can brief the others on what Hell is working on."

They both nodded and Kakashi vanished in a poof of smoke, leaving Jiraiya with Tsunade, "There is one other thing you need to know Tsunade." he said quietly.

* * *

Kakashi appeared outside of Iruka's house with a silent pop and knocked on the door. A few moments passed before a sleepy looking Angel appeared at the door. He raised his eyebrow at Kakashi but let him in anyway. Once inside, Kakashi locked the door and then handed him the baby and began explaining the night's events once more.

When he finished, Iruka looked at the infant who was just starting to awake in the blankets. He felt a pull at his heart as sky blue eyes peered up at him, and he instantly knew that he could not say no to the little baby who started to gurgle at him.

"What's his name?" Iruka asked.

Kakashi shrugged, "He was taken right at birth, the parents never named him."

Iruka glanced down at the child again, "I think I'll call you, Naruto.

* * *

A/N: Yeah, first chapter done. It is kinda late so the last part was a little rushed, but I wanted it up before my good friend Akiru left. Akiru you better appreciate what I do for you. Grr. So yeah, I'm truthfully really bad at first chapters, but as they go I normally get better, or so I think, but reviews are always helpful, and they make me want to update more, so feed the plot bunnies 


	2. Jokes and News

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything else, sadly.

Summary – AU: SasuNaru. Heaven and Hell are getting ready for another all out war, after almost twenty years at an uneasy peace. Naruto is a 'tainted' Angel with a fallen demon sealed inside him at his human birth, and Sasuke is a demon Angel from Hell who has been captured as a spy. When a certain blond comes into interrogate him, things become interesting.

Warnings: There will be some bloodshed eventually, and this is a YAOI, no likely, no read. Now that that is out of the way, onto the story…

A/N: A big thank you to everyone who reviewed, ya'll were the ones that made me remember to update, which by the way, I'm sorry this took so long. I have a very busy schedule this semester and the chances that I have to actually sit and type are few and far between. However, I promise to never abandon a story, I just can't do that, it goes against my nature; not to mention, Akiru would probably kill me. Also before someone jumps me for this, this story is not meant to portray any religious beliefs, nor am I forcing any religious matter on anyone. Thank you.

_Of Betrayal and Love_

_Jokes and News

* * *

_

Sunrise in Heaven was always beautiful, even if the mortal plan was gray and overcast that day, it never reflected that back in Heaven. With the reds, oranges, and sometimes the random purples, it always guaranteed the watcher a sight to behold. However, that was not the reason Naruto enjoyed sunrise. He enjoyed it because it enabled him to practice his training in peace, and occasionally, pull a prank or two.

The morning was crisp, due to the rain they had the night before, courtesy of the Rain Holders, and everything was covered in a light fog that was slowly disappearing as the sun started its peak into the sky.

Mornings; the time for early risers to great the ones that hate morning the most, the time to eat breakfast and drink ungodly amounts of coffee. A time to take in the beauty of everything that surrounds you.

Unless of course you're Iruka Umino, and you never know what to expect when you live with a certain blond. For example, the time he went to the bathroom and found a toilet monster attached to the underside of the lid(1). Or the other time during the winter when he came home to find a large snowball sitting in the living room, or perhaps when he crawled into bed only to find it completely frozen. Then there was the time that the peppershaker exploded in his face, and many more.

But this, this took the cake.

Iruka walked down the hallway and into the kitchen where a head of blond hair was visible behind a box of cereal. He cleared his throat slightly and said head peaked around the box, bright, blue eyes going wide at the sight in front of him.

Despite his best attempts, Naruto simply couldn't hold the laughter in. It started out as a simple snort, then the sound burst from his chest, until it was uncontrollable.

"Naruto, what in the world possessed you to do this little stunt?" a multicolored Iruka demanded, "Not only do I wake up to find my body in three different colors, my room and hallway are covered in baby powder."

Naruto finally was able to get his laughter under control enough to answer, "I never thought it would work." Before he started to laugh again.

The previous night while Iruka was out, he had purchased several packs of colored drink mix and sprinkled it on the bed in different colored stripes. The resulting effect; multicolored Iruka. To top it off, after Iruka had already gone to bed, he had laid out a line of baby powder and used some of his energy to create enough wind to send the powder into the room, covering everything.

"Naruto, I'm waiting for an answer." Iruka said

Naruto squirmed slightly, "Kyuubi made me do it."

Iruka rolled his eyes. He knew that excuse, Naruto had used it when he was younger and always getting into trouble. "That may have worked in the past, but not this time. I want you to go clean up the mess you made."

The clock in the hallway chimed eight and Naruto jumped up quickly at the noise, "Sorry, I have to get to that meeting and training, can't be late." he said and quickly bolted out the door, side stepping Kakashi who had his hand raised to knock. It didn't take long before the blond was out of sight.

Kakashi looked back from the vanishing Naruto, then back to the colorful Iruka.

"If you value your life, you won't say anything." Iruka cautioned.

A single eye twitched, before the other man turned around slowly and shut the door.

* * *

"You smell good at least, like a sweet, fruity, mix." Kakashi said a few moments later after he was able to gain control of himself again.

Iruka snorted and tossed the dirty clothes into the washer before heading towards the shower, "When that boy comes back, he's dead."

"Well, look on the bright side, at least their relationship is better than we thought." Kakashi said softly, "When he was first brought here that was one of our biggest fears, but they seem to get along fine."

"Yeah, he was one of the only ones there for Naruto when he was younger. I just hope it stays that way."

* * *

_ "Brat, I don't like it when you blame me for things I didn't do."_ an annoyed voice growled inside Naruto's mind.

'You know you thought it was funny.'

"_I don't do funny. I am an ancient, magical, evil demon. I destroy towns, and villages, people everywhere fear me."_ the voice grew quiet for a second, before asking, "_What exactly did you use for the coloring."_

Naruto grinned as he continued running towards the training grounds. Despite the tough act that Kyuubi always put up, he was still soft; somewhere deep inside.

A small group of people stood waiting at the bridge and they waved as he approached. He slowed to a walk as he came closer and flashed them a smile, "Hey guys."

"So did you do it?" a brown haired teen asked.

"Yeah, you should have seen him this morning Kiba. I barely ducked out in time." Naruto said, "I didn't think it was going to work at first though."

Kiba snorted, "When have I ever given you a reason to doubt me?"

Naruto was saved from answering as a group of older Angel's walked towards them, and they filed into the waiting classroom. Once everyone was seated, Naruto glanced around, wondering why the meeting had been called in the first place, it wasn't as though they weren't training properly. He noticed that most everyone in the room consisted of teammates that he trained with.

"Settle down." a sharp voice said and the room quickly quite down as the representative for the higher ups made her way to the center of the room. "All right, let's get straight to the point. News has reached us that Hell is once again active and preparing to attack."

There was a murmur that went around the room as people glanced at each other wondering what Hell was preparing this time. It had been a while since they were last shown as having any activity in their realm.

"We still don't know what they are planning on, our spy group made it back after having to make a quick getaway. They have confirmed that Hell is working on something deep in the lower parts, where security is extremely high." she took a look around and her eyes settled on the spiky blond sitting near the right hand side of the room, before continuing. "In light of this new information, our own security will be doubled as well. Gate watchers are to be on full alert as well, we never know when we might get a visit from an Uchiha."

Everyone around the room nodded in agreement and the representative continued, "Due to the threat of an Uchiha once again breaking into our realm, it has been suggested that all students train under their teachers for the next few months to prepare for the worst. With this said, you are dismissed."

The classroom began to thin out as students made their way to find their respective teachers, and Naruto slowly made his way down to the floor where he stopped in front of the speaker, "What do you want me to do Granny?"

He dodged the punch and flashed a grin at her before she answered, "I expect you to help protect this realm of course." she snapped, "Now go find Jiraiya, brat." she smacked him upside the head as he walked away, muttering about disrespectful kids these days.

Naruto headed out onto the grassy training grounds where students were already warming up with fellow students under their teacher's watchful eyes. He was slightly relieved that Tsunade was allowing him to continue to train, knowing full well what others in the realm thought about him. Having a fallen demon sealed inside him made it hard to convince the teachers to let him train so he could help protect the realm, but a few strings were pulled, and he had proven himself to be reliable.

It was easy to spot the white haired man sitting under a tree, writing in his notebook as Naruto approached. He looked up as the blond approached and smiled at him, "Ready to start practicing?" he asked.

He hesitated before answering, something had been bothering him during the meeting and he didn't want to ask in front of everyone. "Hey, who's this Uchiha that Tsunade mentioned? Everyone seems to know who it is, but I've never heard of the name before."

Jiraiya set the journal down and glanced into the bright blue eyes, "You haven't heard of the Uchiha's because most of their attacks were before your time." he said, "When we were at war, all those years ago, Hell sent out their best; the Uchiha's. They have a talent for spying, since they can change appearance."

"We can do that as well though." Naruto argued.

He knew it to be true since he himself had changed ages several times after he had mastered the technique. Angel's that had died a young age were allowed to change their age; once their energy was strong enough to accomplish such a feat, giving them a chance to see how they would have looked as they aged on the mortal realm. They were then allowed to stick with a single age/look or continuously change. Most of the older Angel's already knew what they looked like when they were younger and stayed with a look they had liked in their younger years.

"Yes, everyone has that ability, you yourself have chosen your nineteen year old body. However, their power reaches past just changing age and body. They can change into another person; only from Hell, and sometimes the Mortal plane. We haven't figured out why they can't mimic us, but we think it has something to do with them actually copying an Angel, too hard for them I guess."

Jiraiya stopped, making sure that the blond was still listening then continued, "Anyway, they are able to sneak into our Realm somehow and then blend in and it becomes hard to track them down. And when we catch a demon, we never know if it is an Uchiha, since they always use a different disguise and name every time they go on a mission. The only way we know if we've caught an Uchiha, is that they always escape if we've caught them."

"That's it?" Naruto asked.

Jiraiya nodded, "Yeah, that's about it."

"So our information is limited to a 'they change shape and it's too hard to track them', oh and lets not forget to mention that their extremely dangerous."

"You know kid; you might not be as dumb as you look." Jiraiya stated.

"At least I'm not a pervert." Naruto shot back.

Jiraiya grunted and then stood up, "Well if that answers all your questions then, we should start training."

Naruto nodded and went through some simple warm up stretching, allowing his energy, or Macht(2) to move easier through his body and his muscles to relax more. Once warmed up, Jiraiya had him perform some basic techniques that helped him with control, since patience was never a strong point for him. It was something that he had struggled with growing up and had only started to gain slight control over his patience as well as temper.

But he did, and he had to if he wanted to continue protecting the realm. He wasn't naive, and he knew about his past and how he ended up in the Heaven realm. He also knew about Kyuubi and his fall from being an angel, as well as his betrayal. He knew all this, at the age of two. However, the knowledge that something was inside of him came much earlier, when Kyuubi had tried to break out of his vessel, but that was then.

After hearing about the incident when he was older, and what had almost happened, he had slowly worked on gathering the demon's trust, knowing what it meant for both if they didn't control themselves. It wasn't easy, and even still, the fox had a mind of its own at times, but they both had respect for each other, allowing them to get along fine.

And as fate would have it, Kyuubi turned out to be Naruto's first, real, companion when most others turned away from him.

Naruto never figured out what convinced the fox to finally accept him, but after that incident, the fox settled down.

He let out a cry as something hit him on the back of his head. He looked around quickly and found Jiraiya standing there with an amused smile on his face.

"What the hell was that for?"

"You lost focus" he answered, "Look, the flame is out."

Naruto looked down at his hand where the green flame that he had been holding was gone. "How long was I standing there then?"

"Five minutes, give or take. So what's on your mind now?"

He shook his head, "Just thinking."

Jiraiya nodded his head, already guessing what was on his mind, "Just continue to focus on the flame, this time though, I want you to keep it the same size, and have it alternate colors."

He smiled at Naruto's grumbling and leaned back to watch. He knew that the blond was always trying to prove himself helpful to the Realm despite his background, but it was hard. Even in this Realm, it was hard to gain trust after countless wars. Wars that could have been won and possible prevented if the fox hadn't fallen. People didn't forget easily, and when Naruto was younger, he struggled to prove that he wasn't like the fox, and they were two different beings. It wasn't easy though.

Jiraiya had watched Naruto struggle as he grew up, his first few years being the hardest. But the generations changed quickly and new groups came in, groups that didn't know about his past, and didn't care. To them, Naruto was a friend and a companion, someone who they could count on in missions or just in daily life.

Still, despite all that happened over the twenty odd some years that he had been here, proving himself time and time again, there were times that Jiraiya worried about him. The future was never set in stone, even for Angel's, especially in this time period. There was always that small chance that the fox could take over Naruto, even though the bond they had was stronger than most had predicted. If that happened, he would have to fulfill his promise he made to Tsunade.

To kill Naruto if he ever threatened the Realm.

He hoped that it would never come to that though. He had helped train the boy ever since he was granted permission, and he knew that he great potential, as well as heart.

All right Naruto, are you ready to get to the real training?" he asked, standing up.

"Finally." was the answer.

"Then take up your stance, and we'll practice some work with Macht skills."

They moved to the opposite side of the training area, and a slight breeze shifted the trees and grass before the training began at last.

* * *

It was late afternoon by the time Naruto returned back home, with hope that Iruka was in a better mood. Luck was with him as Iruka was in much better spirits and they had a normal dinner. Naruto informed Iruka about the new developments regarding Hell, and told him that he was still going to be allowed to help fight against them. Iruka, of course became instantly worried and tried to convince him otherwise, but Naruto argued that he would be fine, and quickly switched topics.

After dinner, Naruto helped clear the table, knowing that Iruka probably still remembered the morning's events, and the only way to fix it was by helping out with housework; no matter how much he hated it. He headed upstairs to his room and pushed his door open, only to find the room filled with hundreds of balloons. He grinned and looked back to find Iruka hiding a smile.

"Even?" Naruto asked, and Iruka nodded.

Naruto pushed his way through the room and made his way to the window and glanced outside where the sun was starting to set. He gave his room one more quick look, "Simple yet effective." he murmured before jumping out of the window.

* * *

He made his way down to a clearing as the sky was beginning to change colors again as the sun continued to set. He watched the sun set for a while before he shook his head, clearing it, and got to work.

He always claimed that sunrise was his favorite part of the day, but the truth of it all was that sunset was probably the time he liked the best.

Wings pierced the dark purple, and red sky, the black tips blending into the darkening background. This was his time, his time when he practiced the hardest, because the night colors hid the colored wings that he bore, and they only pushed him to train harder; pushing himself to create stronger techniques that surprised his teachers and fellow teammates. They never knew; because they didn't bear the tainted wings.

He started to move, as his Macht came forth. The sun had finished setting and the moon had now risen as Naruto continued his training; his movements flowing from his body like a dance. A deadly dance. T he bright moon outlined his figure as he continued on into the night, wings shimmering under the light of the moon. W hen he finally dropped to the ground from exhaustion, it was a while before another shadow appeared beside him and held a hand out to him. He took it after a while and the dance continued, but this time instead of there being a single dancer, there were two.

Both dancers bearing the marks of tainted wings. One white and black. The other black and red.

* * *

(1) Found this joke on a website and couldn't resist using in

(2) Macht is the Dutch word for power (according to Babel fish). Trying to be somewhat original and not having to use chakra.

A/N: Yes another note, sorry. I have friends coming in this week and I won't have time to type during this time. On that note, I have two weeks before I have to leave for a weeklong trip in which I will not have access (nor the time) to a computer. I will try and get some typing up during that time, and possible posted, and if not I'm really sorry. Anyway, don't forget to click that little button for reviewing.


	3. Hell's greatest Secret

Standard Disclaimer: I still own nothing

Summary – AU: SasuNaru. Heaven and Hell are getting ready for another all out war, after almost twenty years at an uneasy peace. Naruto is a 'tainted' Angel with a fallen demon sealed inside him at his human birth, and Sasuke is a demon Angel from Hell who has been captured as a spy. When a certain blond comes into interrogate him, things become interesting.

Warnings: There will be some bloodshed eventually, and this is a YAOI, no likely, no read. Un-betaed (plus) late at night (equals) Some mistakes.

Now that that is out of the way, onto the story…

_Of Betrayal and Love_

_Chapter Three_

Eternal damnation.

These two words are what the Angels used to describe Hell, when in reality, they were really just describing a bunch of people. A clan to be more precise. Instead, Hell brings the phrase, 'Beauty is in the eye of the beholder' into play.

In the Heaven realm, the Angels thought Hell was dark, nasty, and full of death. A place where the beings never saw the light of the day and never knew what love and fun meant.

Ironic that the demons in Hell thought the same thing about Heaven.

Past the gates of Hell where powerful demons stood protecting them, demons were free to roam across stone walkways that lead to different portals. A few miles beyond the gates was the capital, a tall black marble building; where mortals were judged after they died, plans were made for war, and where the higher ups stayed.

Besides the capital, there were no other buildings visible on the first plane. Instead, demons went from plane to plane, going where they were needed by use of the portals. Each portal led to a different plane, protecting the lower levels where the most precious secrets were kept; making the Capital just a 'red herring'.

Some of the higher planes held housing and everyday needs for the demons, but as the planes went deeper into Hell, where the sun burned dimly throughout the day, security grew stricter, and traps were met at every turn. Here, in the most bottom planes, Hell protected their greatest secret and asset.

The Uchiha clan.

Hell's most prized possession was the hardest place to get at, for good reason of course. No Angel's ever made it down to this low of a level, and the ones that did; never make it out alive. Here, Hell's best stayed, guarded by more demon animals, who were ready to move into action whenever needed.

The Uchiha plane was large. It needed to be. When someone mentions a clan, they tend to think of just a few people, with the rest joining as they die on the mortal realm, however, the Uchiha's are a different circumstance.

They existed centuries back, and then suddenly vanished, and the name Uchiha can no longer be found in History books. The reason for all of this, was a mass suicide on their part.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

In the early 18th century, back near the beginning of the War, the Uchiha's lived on the mortal realm, specializing in assassination and spying. Where even children were taught at a young age the beginnings of the art so they could be ready for the field quicker.

People hired the Uchiha's for protection at times, but most of their time was spent defeating their enemies who wished to take over the village they lived in. Because of their power and strength, enemies grew jealous and people around them began to fear for the worst.

Their fears were realized after a couple decades when the Uchiha Estates came under new leadership, and they began to spread their land out by force. It did not take long for them to defeat surrounding villages and expand their estates, making their enemies even bitterer and nearby villages angry.

And when people get angry about a single cause, they tend to band together and get rid of their problem

Two decades had passed since their new leader had taken over, when the Uchiha's found out that there was a conspiracy forming against them. It seemed that their rival's and neighboring villages had banded together to fight the large estate in the hopes of either killing them, or forcing them to leave. Or a combination of both.

At the beginning of the week, their enemies joined together and war was set against the Uchiha Estate. Their enemies didn't fair so well. Because news had reached the Uchiha's, they had already planned traps and other ways to kill their enemies before they even reached their lands.

By the time their enemies made it to their walls, it was close to the middle of the week, and their foes had to stop to re supply and call for more of their own troops.

A few days passed and when their numbers finally grew large enough, they were ready to strike that next morning. Using the rays of the newly rising sun to attack, in hopes that it would help give them cover if they came in from the east, since no one likes to look at the sun.

The awaited day came and they crept into the town with the sun to their backs, however, instead of finding a town full of Uchiha's ready to fight, their enemies found the town deserted. No one was out on the streets, ready to battle, nor was their any sound. Just the noise of gravel under their own feet as they moved slowly through the town in search of something.

It wasn't until they ventured inside the homes, that they found the bodies of the clan. It seemed that in order to avoid death at the hands of their enemies, they chose death by their own instead.

On that day, Hell was filled with hundreds of mortals, all of whom were strong in the art of killing. Right at the time Hell was preparing for war against Heaven again. To say that the higher ups were pleased, was an understatement.

There were thrilled at this new discovery, and decided to compensate the Uchiha clan for their loss, and gave to them the demon eye.

This demon eye allowed the Uchiha's power over weaker demons and Angels. They trained their eyes to allow them to erase memories if they were caught in the Heaven Realm, and to cast illusions inside their enemy's minds.

As the clan grew stronger in their demon powers, Hell moved them down further in the planes to help guard the secret of their powers and to make sure that no Angel came back alive with their information.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A black winged messenger descended down to the Uchiha plane with a letter in hand, ready to fulfill his duty and leave the plane. He enjoyed his job delivering messages, it kept him out of the current war, and unharmed, however, he did not like going to the Uchiha's plane.

It gave him the creeps.

It was considered bad luck to have to deliver far below and messengers would draw straws to see whom the unlucky soul would be. It was his turn this time.

He swallowed and made his way up to the gates where some of the demon animals stood guard. They glanced at him and sized him up; trying to decided if, he was worth the trouble of starting a pointless fight.

One look told them that, if he could, he would have turned tail and ran by now, but it was only by a sheer streak of courage that kept the man still standing. Finally, one of the beasts stood up and went to go great the messenger.

"What is your business here, young demon?" it asked, loud voice booming through the area.

"I, I have a message for one of the Uchiha's, sir." He stuttered.

The animal looked down at the messengers hand and its eyes focused on the white envelope, "So I see. Would you like to give it to them, or would you prefer that one of us deliver it to them."

"My orders were to make sure that said Uchiha receives this letter personally sir."

There were low rumbles of laughter near the gate where the other animals were sitting, "Just let him through, before he pees himself." They called.

The beast let out a snort and turned away, "Very well, you may pass."

The young man muttered a thanks and ducked quickly through the gates, where he was met with his next task; finding the Uchiha.

He moved through the streets quickly, trying hard to avoid drawing attention to himself, and trying not to look petrified. He had heard rumors that these demons could smell fear. After turning a corner, he let out a sigh of relief as the house he needed came into sight and it was all he could do to stop himself from running there.

He was almost at the house when a cold voice stopped him.

"Take another step if you want to die."

Sweat trickled down the messengers face as he paused mid step and tried to hold his balance. A long, black haired demon stepped out of the shadow from a stonewall to his right and casually walked around him.

'Messenger.' He said to himself before coming to a stop in front of the shaking boy. "Can I help you?"

"I, I have a message for an Uchiha. Sir."

There was soft laughter, "Of course, otherwise you wouldn't be here."

"Right." Came the answer and he felt his body shake harder as he forced himself to look into the face of the person in front of him.

He let out an undignified squeak as he toppled over and onto the ground after realizing that the Uchiha had been within inches of his face.

After steadying himself, he held up his arm with the letter gripped in his hand, "This summons is for Uchiha, Sasuke." He said.

The black haired Uchiha shook his head, "But I'm not Sasuke. I'm his brother, Itachi."

"Can you give it to him?"

Itachi shook his head, "That would be your job, not mine."

Never before had the messenger felt like crying.

Seeing his distress, Itachi pointed to the house, "He's in there, if it helps." He said, amused.

The messenger scrambled to his feet and quickly headed towards the house, hoping to get away from the dark soulless eyes that bore into him. He knocked on the door and felt the color drain from his face when the person who opened the door.

More black eyes.

Again, he repeated his message to the older man who in turn led him into the house. He followed the elder Uchiha down a hallway that led to the backyard of the house where another black haired demon sat next to the pond.

The feeling of déjà vu began to creep over the messenger as he walked over to the demon and his suspicion were confirmed when he was met with another pair of black eyes.

"Did you shrink?" he asked confused.

Ebony eyes locked onto his own eyes, and the messenger suddenly began to fear for his life. "Sorry, I thought…I thought you were someone else."

"Hn." Was the only response, and the messenger took that as his cue that he could continue.

"I have a letter for you from the higher ups regarding a mission that you are to take soon. Regarding the war. They told me, to tell you, that you are to meet them later for briefing, before you leave tonight."

He held out the white envelope, waiting for him to take it, but instead, the Uchiha just looked at him.

The messenger continued to stare at the demon before asking, "You are Uchiha, Sasuke right?"

"No, I'm Itachi, my brother is Sasuke."

"But, but I thought, that you just said that, and you were out there, and," the messenger stammered, gesturing wildly with his hands.

"You called little brother." A voice asked from the house.

The messenger turned around to find the person he originally thought was Itachi standing next to the house. His head moved back and forth between the two, trying to decide which of the two Uchiha's were which. The shorter one he was currently with, or the taller one who he just talked to outside the house.

Two pairs of black eyes bore into him and in that instant, he felt everything in his mind crack.

A scream filled the air as the messenger closed his eyes, "God, I can't take those eyes." He shoved the envelope into the shorter Uchiha's hand and backed away, "Alright, which ever one you are, just take it and give it to the right Uchiha."

A few more steps took him to the gate and he opened it cautiously, expecting another Uchiha behind the gate. Finding none, he looked back at the two brothers, "I'm going to go now."

And with that, he vanished.

Sasuke looked at the envelope in his hand, then at his brother, "They need better messengers these days. All these new ones suck and can't handle pressure."

He slit the top open with a knife and skimmed the letter.

_Sasuke Uchiha,_

_This letter requests your presence at the capital tonight at eight where you will be briefed over you newest mission. The following below is your assignment that you will be expected to complete._

_Assignment – Infiltrate Heaven and bring back a report on their defenses so we can prepare for our next attack. Numbers are needed as accurate as possible and their strength to the best of your knowledge._

Sasuke reread the letter before stuffing it back into the envelope and headed towards the house. Itachi glanced at him as he walked by, "Mission?"

"Hn."

"I'll take that as a yes." Itachi said.

He turned and looked at his brother, "You know, if father finds out that we scared another messenger shitless, we might be in trouble."

"Always worth it." Came the answer. "Besides, you know you enjoy it."

Sasuke ignored him as he continued towards his room where a quick kick to the door shut up. He glanced around his room and began picking up his gear that would be needed for this assignment. The demon wasn't sure how long the mission would take, but in order to get an accurate count, it could take a week at the least.

It didn't bother him that it would take so long though. The last thing he needed was for Hell to lose a fight against Heaven because he rushed through his job and the numbers were wrong.

Besides his Uchiha pride was on the line and if something happened, his brother would never let him live it down.

He glanced at the clock and picked up his equipment before leaving his room. He needed to make a quick stop by his parent's room to tell them that he would be leaving for a while before he left. It didn't take long to tell them he was leaving, they understood what it meant, and he was gone.

He had gone no more than ten steps away from the house when he heard his brother's voice coming from behind him. He cursed slightly before turning around, facing his brother.

"Just wanted to wish you luck, little brother."

The simple "Hn," was his only answer.

Itachi smiled, "Don't forget to change."

"I'm not a child at this Itachi, I know what to do."

He nodded, "Very well then. Have fun."

Sasuke stared at him for a moment before leaving for the gates where he passed through the guardians easily, daring them to offer a challenge.

There was none.

The animals were always too smart to try anything like that, and they didn't want to die early either.

He moved through the planes quickly and reached the training grounds in no time. The higher ups were waiting for him as he entered the building and ushered him into a room where he met the officer in charge of the assignment.

"Sasuke, this mission is very important, and it should take long. We aren't expecting you back for at least a month or so." He said, "We want you to infiltrate as an Angel, not copy one, but just act like one. This way you can move about easily and not draw any suspicion. Your eyes can take care of anyone who starts to question too much."

Sasuke nodded, "There is something else."

"Yes, and this is extremely classified."

The officer leaned forward to give the Uchiha assassin a slip of paper, and Sasuke skimmed the paper quickly. He felt his eyes go wide and he handed the paper back to the officer who destroyed it with some fire.

"Are we sure about this?" he asked

There was a nod from the officer, "Yes, higher ups have confirmed this."

"Very well." He said, "I'll do as they ask."

He turned and left the room, where the sun was just beginning to set. The suns set different in the two realms and he needed to wait until nightfall in order to make it to the Heaven realm unnoticed.

'The curse of the Uchiha', he thought to himself as he watched the sunset. 'Forced to work like this.' He leaned back onto the buildings surface and closed his eyes.

He was only six or so when the attack on the clan happened and he had worked in Hell for over hundreds of years. He didn't like to think about what would have happened if he had ended up in Heaven, because either way, he would still be fighting.

However, he lived for fighting.

It was the thing that kept him going all the years after his death. He had lost count of how many times he had been into Heaven, fooling everyone and escaping from their jails easily. He knew them well enough now that he didn't even need magic to help escape.

The clan hadn't been called on in a while to do any scouting, and excitement ran through his blood at the thought of war starting again. It had been a while since they had last fought and scaring people on the mortal realm could get old fast. Especially if an Angel never came to the rescue of the poor mortal they were torturing.

It was always fun though, during the war times, watching the Angels fall because they gave information away to a Demon in disguise. Because they were too weak to detect when Demons entered their realm.

There was no way he would trade his life down in Hell to live in Heaven.

Finally, night had fallen and it was time leave. His wings appeared and blended in perfectly with the black night sky, making them hard to notice that they were there in the first place.

He jumped into the air and flapped his wings once to catch the air before he began his assent up towards the realm ending point. He soon found himself on the Mortal realm and continued in the dark night, hidden from view.

The gates to Heaven's realm became visible within moments, and he slowed himself down as he looked for the entrance that would allow him to slip in unnoticed.

After locating it, he moved by the guards quickly and hesitated before he continued, making sure that the guards didn't notice anything. Once making sure he was clear to continue, he moved around one of the trees near the wall and pressed his back against the cool concrete wall.

The wall itself was an illusion that just gave the impression of a gated realm, but instead, it was the ends of the realm itself. And at the right place, the security was slightly thinner than the rest.

He moved down the wall, felt for the energy pulses to slow down, and then closed his eyes. He concentrated his energy on the weak area, forcing the illusion to slowly break away and allowing a small hole to be made. It didn't take long for him to crawl through, and then turn around and seal the hole again.

A glance around assured him that no one had noticed his entry, and he allowed himself a small smile.

He was in.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A/N: Yea, this took so long to write, and I truthfully don't like it that much. But that's okay, cause after this, the chapters should get easier to write. However, with every good news comes bad news. So for the bad news; I'm going away for about two weeks, and I'm still not sure if I'm going to have my computer or not. But I will try and type, if not, then you have to wait. Sorry. And in case you noticed, I did change my penname, sorry if that confused anyone. Anyway, hoped you enjoyed.


	4. Fight

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing

**Warnings**: Eventual blood and yaoi, you have been warned.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The sun was beginning to set in the Heaven Realm as Naruto handed his dishes to Iruka. They had enjoyed the past week without any pranks and training was going well with Jiraiya. The blond thanked Iruka for the dinner before moving upstairs to his room where he poked around, looking for a small box. The last time he had trained late, he was too tired to make his way back home and had to camp out in the cold. It wouldn't happen this time.

Downstairs, there was a knock on the door, signaling that Kakashi had arrived to take the Iruka on a date to the movies. They both called out a goodbye to Naruto before leaving him alone, expecting him to be on his best behavior and go to bed at eleven or ten.

Yeah right.

Once the two had vanished from sight, he slipped out of the window and darted out to the forest area behind the house. All last week he had been training in the clearing but for a change of pace, he wanted to work in a smaller, confined space. He perched in a tree for a while, waiting for the sun to finish its trail and the moon to follow. Tonight was the time when the moon gave out the most light and he did not want to waste it.

Eventually, he jumped down from the tree, called forth his Macht and began his deadly dance.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sasuke crept through the thickly forested area and cursed as a branch scratched at his arm. It was getting dark now that the sun had set and he needed to find a place to hide; luckily, all the Angels were in their houses by now and their night patrol was lighter.

Or so he thought.

Ahead of him, he could feel the pulsing of Macht and he felt himself stiffen as it washed over him. The power of it caught him off guard but he could still feel it calling to him, and after a moment of hesitation, he answered its call. When he finally reached the area where the Macht was, he was surprised. The Demon was expecting an older Angel, but instead found a younger one. Despite his appearance of a nineteen year old, he guess that the actual age of the Angel was only around seventeen.

Interesting.

He settled back to watch the Angel train, taking in the movements that he made, and enjoying the view of the moonlight casting its light on the sweat-covered body. Sasuke shook his head; he was on a mission and didn't need to be thinking about things like that. Then again…

"You know, it's considered rude to stalk someone in the middle of the night." a voice said in the quiet of the night.

Sasuke startled at the noise and fell ungracefully out of the tree. So much for being a powerful Demon and never losing your cool.

He glanced up from the ground and noticed that it was the Angel that he had been watching earlier and he felt his breath catch in his throat as his eyes locked with bright blue ones. He had thought that the Angel was nice looking from far away, but he was much better looking close up.

"I wasn't stalking." he answered, "I was resting and happened to come across you on my way back."

The Angel raised an eyebrow, "I've never seen you before, are you new?"

Sasuke snorted, "Do I look new to you."

Bright blue eyes looked him up and down, "Yes."

Reality hit Sasuke hard when he glanced down at his appearance and realized that he never changed his look. '_Shit.'_ He could erase the blonds mind, but it would be a pity to burrow into the Angel's mind and risk destroying it. Very well, he could play this game out to his advantage.

"Yeah, I'm new." he answered, "I've only been here about two years."

The blond cocked his head, "That's not exactly new."

Sasuke shrugged, "Well, I'm not that privileged to be an Angel like you and your fellow kin. I'm a shape shifter from the Mortal Realm, and our time moves differently."

Silence surrounded them for a while and it Sasuke wondered if the Angel would buy his lie. It wasn't as though shape shifters weren't real, they were just rarely seen in human form, and if need be, he could shift into an animal to prove his point.

After a while, the Angel nodded and held out his hand, "I've never met a shape shifter before; I'm Naruto."

"Sasuke." The Demon said without thinking, and then cursed in his mind. What was it with this Angel that made him forget the basics of his training?

"So what brings you to the Heaven Realm, Sasuke?"

The raven Demon shrugged, he was still trying to get over the fact that this blond Angel knew what he looked like along with his real name, and would probably never know how close he was to death. "Just switching through the realms, the Mortal Realm was getting a bit boring."

There was a sudden shill in the air and the blue eyes hardened. Before Sasuke could blink, he was pressed up against the tree and Naruto's had pulled out a small knife, pressing it against his throat. "Switching through the realms can be considered dangerous at this time." He said softly, "How do I know you're not a spy for Hell?"

Sasuke swallowed, giving the impression of being scared and nervous, "Why would I want to go to that Realm? Do you know what they do to shape shifters like me if they get a hold of us?" he asked, voice getting higher as he finished his question, then let a shiver run through his body, "My brother was captured years ago during the war, they tortured him, thinking he had information when he really didn't. He's stuck in Hell still; as someone's pet weasel."

Naruto's eyes softened slightly, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring back memories like that for you." He released Sasuke, who was careful to keep his 'pity me' act up, "It's just that these days you never know and it's my job to help protect this Realm."

"So that's why you're out here training."

The blond nodded, "I like to train by myself."

Sasuke frowned, "You can't get a lot done just training by yourself; how do you get anything done?"

A large smile stretched across the whiskered face, making Sasuke draw in his breath, "I have my ways."

"I bet you suck."

"I'll make you eat those words." Naruto answered.

He turned and headed back to the area where he was training before Sasuke had been caught watching him. He didn't want to tell the shape shifter how he trained since he wasn't sure how he would react, but there wasn't anything wrong with showing him how well he could fight. '_What do you think Kyuubi?_' he asked.

The Demon Fox was silent for a while, '_I'm not sure. Shape shifters exist still, and I know that they tend to live in the Mortal Realm, but that doesn't mean that you should trust him right away.'_

Naruto nodded his head slightly so Sasuke didn't think he was talking to himself.

When they reached a clearing, they stopped and faced each other. "Are you sure you want to do this?" Sasuke asked, "I don't want to embarrass you."

There was a snort from the Angel, "You shouldn't underestimate me."

Sasuke shrugged and rolled his shoulders to loosen them up. "Alright, let's go."

For a moment, neither moved; then, after a second or two of staring at each other, they moved into action. Sasuke darted forward, tossing a dagger towards the Angel. It held true to its course and he was sure it was going to hit, but at the last moment, Naruto ducked out of the way, and then vanished from sight. Sasuke looked around, trying to find him, and when his eyes failed him, he stretched out his senses to detect any Macht in the area.

He found a small patch in a cluster of trees behind him, and dodged a dagger that was tossed at his back. The second after he landed, he pivoted on his heal to face the spot that Naruto was hiding in, only to find the blond flying towards him. Sasuke took a quick step back, then back flipped to get out of attacking range. Even though he wouldn't admit it, Naruto's speed was quicker than he thought, and it was hard to keep track of his position at times.

Naruto skidded to a stop after missing his target, and wheeled around again, drawing forth his Macht. The blue color swirled around his hand until it became big enough to grab at it, and then shaped it into a sharp sword. He rarely performed this ability when training with the other Angels, and Jiraiya has only seen it once, but Naruto had a feeling he would be needing it soon. Sasuke raced towards him with another dagger in his hand and quickly swung at Naruto with it, but it fell short of its mark as he jumped back.

Or so he thought.

He landed on a branch and sucked in a breath, preparing to attack again when he felt something trickle down his arm. A quick glance down showed that Sasuke's dagger had connected to his arm, leaving a small cut. Beneath him, on the ground, Sasuke smirked. He had lengthened his Macht to make it longer than the dagger as well as invisible. The length could be changed in a blink of an eye, making it hard to guess how close someone could get without being cut.

A curse escaped Naruto's lips as he tried to figure out a way to get close enough to Sasuke. He could do the same thing with his sword, but the Macht was visible, allowing Sasuke to counter his attack. There was a quiet whistle coming from the left side of the tree and his eyes widened as he realized that the shape shifter had lengthened the dagger again and now it was cutting through the trees to reach him. He dropped to the ground as the dagger sliced through the tree he was sitting on.

'_Kyuubi, can you see the Macht on his dagger?'_ Naruto questioned.

Kyuubi shifted his position so he could see through his vessels eyes. His eyes sharpened, revealing things that normal beings wouldn't normally be able to see, and they pinpointed the raven's Macht.

'_Yes, I can see it, but you can't keep relying on me. Figure it out yourself.'_

'_What!?' _Naruto cried in his mind.

'_That's what you get for blaming me a week ago.'_

"Stupid fox," Naruto murmured under his breath as he dodged a punch from Sasuke, and kicked out, landing a blow.

Sasuke grunted and stumbled back a step. He hadn't expected Naruto's to kick to land, let alone with the power that was in it. There was definitely something more than met the eye with this Angel, and it intrigued him. He took a step backward, and planted his feet to give him stability, then drew his Macht into his fingers. Once it gathered, he stretched it out, so it was thin and whip like, then changed the raw Macht energy, into element energy.

A black whip appeared in Sasuke's hand and fire danced around the energy. Fire was the Demon's specialty, and being dead for centuries had allowed him to train many different styles.

Naruto looked at the whip and cursed; he hadn't expected the shape shifter to know elemental control. He could control some elemental, but his control on it varied from time to time. However, what better time to work with it than now. He dulled his Macht sword, and stored it on his back for later use, then brought forth his element energy. His element was wind, and it was as unpredictable as the weather, but he hoped that this time he could control it well enough to fight with.

He drew the wind Macht to his feet, creating a small ball of wind about the size of a soccer ball, but invisible to the fire user's eyes. After testing the strength of it, he jumped into the air with the ball attached to the bottoms of his feet, then spun, successfully launching the ball at Sasuke. The raven looked at him with eyebrows cocked, wondering what he was doing, until the blast of wind hit him, knocking him back into a tree. Naruto landed with a smile on his face, glad that the wind Macht was listening tonight.

The raven pushed himself up onto his feet and shook his head. It didn't take a genius to figure out that he could control wind, making his situation a little harder, but nothing he couldn't handle. He shifted his weight back and forth between his legs, allowing energy to strengthen them, then darted forward quickly, vanishing from sight. A second later, he appeared in front of Naruto, and swung his body around, kicking the Angel back by the clearing. Sasuke allowed the whip to follow the falling boy and coil around him, successfully pinning him down.

Sasuke walked over to the tied up Angel and peered at him. He was squirming, still trying to escape, despite the fire that surrounded him. The Demon reached down, picked him up, and pushed him against the trunk of the tree. "I win." He said, as the binding whip wrapped itself around the trunk, holding the blond to the tree tightly. "And you never said anything about what happens when someone wins."

Blue eyes met his and amusement danced in them, "I told you not to underestimate me, Sasuke."

Wind whipped around the tree that was holding the blond, extinguishing the fire. Naruto wiggled against the tree until the Macht sword caught hold of the whip, cutting it in half, and by the time the wind had died down and Sasuke could see clearly again, Naruto had vanished. Sasuke glanced around, knowing that Naruto was probably staked out in the forest where the cover was better. He closed his eyes and allowed them to sharpen slightly, while being careful to make sure they did not turn red, then glanced in the direction of the forest.

Macht lines danced in his line of view, and he realized that Naruto spent a lot of time in the forest; his Macht was everywhere and it was impossible to tell what was old and what was new. However, there was a different set of lines that he was picking up as well, one that wasn't his, but seemed oddly familiar. He allowed his eyes to return to normal after realizing that tracking this way was not going to work. Instead, the best thing to do was to wait for the blond to attack, or lure him into a trap.

Well the first definitely wasn't going to happen, so it was time to set a trap.

Sasuke moved into the woods quickly, hoping to vanish from sight, though the moment the raven passed, Naruto dropped down to the forest floor and tracked after him. Sasuke allowed himself a tight smile as he felt the Angel tracking him from behind, feeling the Macht build up for an attack. He knew that wind attacks were hard to detect with the eyes, so instead he sharpened his ears to pick up the whoosh noise that the wind made.

It didn't take long for the noise to reach his ears and he quickly jumped into the air, avoiding the blast and sent out a wave of fire back at Naruto.

Naruto felt his eyes go wide, knowing that he couldn't call out another wind attack quick enough to block the attack.

'_Kit, move!'_ Kyuubi's urgent voice called in his head.

The Angel stayed still for a moment, mesmerized by the fire as it came closer, then engulfed the area.

Sasuke landed after the attack and looked at the fire that blazed around on the ground where Naruto had been when he launched his attack. He was sure that it hit and had dulled it down so it wouldn't burn the Angel, since; after all, he wasn't here to kill anyone. Yet. However, there was no movement from the spot and he felt worry begin to spread through his body, wondering if the blond was caught in the fire.

He took a step forward to check, calling his name uncertainty. "Naruto?" The ground was charred as he called the fire back, but there was nothing there.

A shadow on the ground made him look up and for a second all he saw was a dark blur, but as it came closer, he could make out jagged, white, wings before Naruto came into view. He had his arm pulled back and in his hand, he had a milky, silver colored sword that pulsed with Macht. Sasuke stumbled backwards as Naruto swung the sword around, catching his arm with the blade. The moment he landed, he had pounced after Sasuke, determined to keep him on the defense as he took another swing at the raven.

Sasuke reached down, pulled out his dagger, and lengthened the blade, swinging it towards the blond, only to have it blocked. His eyes widened a fraction, but he spun around and blocked another attack from Naruto. After their weapons connected, he raised the dagger up to hit at Naruto's neck, but Naruto had ducked down and kicked out at his feet. Sasuke fell backwards, but curved backwards so he could flip back onto his feet, blade ready to block another attack.

Their weapons clashed together one last time, their arms shaking with the effort of holding the other off. There was a flash of light as the Macht changed energy for one more attack in their blades, and during that time, they had spun around and came face to face; with sword and dagger at the others neck. Blue eyes met black eyes for a brief moment before Naruto flashed Sasuke a bright smile and they dropped their blades.

They gasped for breath and sweat covered their bodies as they dropped to the ground. "You fight well." Naruto said.

Sasuke glanced at him, still not wanting to admit that an Angel could best him when something caught his eyes. He hadn't noticed it earlier when he was attacked from above since the sky was still dark, but now that they had stopped fighting and the sun was slowly rising, the color was evident and it explained the shape from earlier. "Naruto, your wings." He stated.

Naruto glanced back, realizing that he still had his wings out, and his heart sank. He stood up and glanced down at Sasuke, "This is why I train by myself." He said softly, "No one wants to train with a tainted Angel."

The bright blue eyes had dimmed and his voice had lost its cheerfulness and Sasuke had the sudden urge to comfort the Angel.

"I understand if you want to leave."

Sasuke reached up and grabbed Naruto's hand, "I don't see anything wrong with it." He said truthfully.

The blond turned back to face him, the rising sun highlighting his face and hair, making a halo appear around his head, and Sasuke sucked in his breath at the sight. There was still distrust written in the eyes and he couldn't blame the Angel, knowing that what he went through must have been rough, but the light had reappeared in the eyes, lighting up his face even more.

There was a moment of silence in which Sasuke realized that he was still holding Naruto's hand and he let it go quickly. "Sorry." He muttered, a slight blush settling on his cheeks.

Naruto shrugged it off and glanced at the sun, "I need to get back. If my guardian realizes I'm not their, he'll freak out. He is kinda like a mother hen."

"Guardian?" Sasuke questioned, "Naruto, how old are you?"

A frown crossed the blonds face, "I've been here for about seventeen to eighteen years. I was killed when I was baby, and Iruka decided to take me in. Why?"

The raven was silent as he processed this new bit of information. The Angel was considered very young by death standards, yet he seemed to have such control over his powers, as well as extensive knowledge over them as well. Things like that were rare. Either the Heaven Realm was getting a lot better at teaching their students then they were years ago, or this boy had something special to him.

Sasuke shook his head as Naruto gave him a weird look at his non-response to the question. "I was just wondering. I thought that most Angel's would live with family or something along that line, but if your parents are here yet, it makes sense." He hesitated, "By the way, can you do me a favor? I'm going to be staying here in the woods were it'll be safer for me."

The blond nodded and Sasuke continued, "Don't mention me to anyone. I'm not sure what they'll try to do if they found out that a shape shifter has been found in your Realm after all these years. We tend to keep to ourselves, and I don't want a lot of attention. Eventually I'll come into to your town, but possibly as an animal, like a fox."

Naruto stiffened slightly and his face played several emotions all at once before his normal cheerful face came back, "I wouldn't do that." He said with a laugh, "People here tend to dislike foxes, especially if they saw one with me. You might want to choose a different animal."

Black eyes narrowed but he nodded his head, saying that he agreed, and then yawned, "You should probably get going; don't want your guardian to worry." He teased, "I'll see you tonight if you want to train again?"

Naruto grinned widely and tilted his head to the side, "Awesome, I'll see you later." He turned around and waved as he walked away, stopping only to pick up an orange jacket that was sitting next to a tree and then vanished from sight.

Sasuke watched the figure until it disappeared before heading back into the dark part of the forest. He quickly set up a small camp then leaned back to think. It seemed that Heaven was training again, so something must have tipped them off about Hell's movements, and then there was this boy. Not many tainted Angels stayed in Heaven; most floated between the Realms, living alone.

As he continued to relax, he realized that he hadn't asked Naruto why he was tainted. He was too young to have done something terrible enough to upset his higher ups, yet he bore black and white wings. And then he seemed to have so much power at such a young age, yet knowledge the knowledge on his Macht made his seem much older. His mind went back to when Naruto mentioned why he trained alone, and a frown crossed his face. Just because an Angel was tainted, didn't mean that other Angels shunned or feared them, yet they seemed to with this one.

And the animal seemed to spark something in him. It wasn't just fear, but mixes of concern and alarm had showed in his face as well. While it was true that all Angels were special in a very small way, this one seemed different; he was holding a secret, but it was easy to tell that everyone knew about this secret, and feared it. He leaned back against the tree in silent thought as he continued to think about the blond Angel, and his face kept appearing in his head as he smiled before he left.

'_He looked like a fox when did that.'_

Sasuke shot forward quickly, eyes wide with realization, as his mind worked to put pieces together. Everything started to fit perfectly and a smile slowly crept across his face.

Interesting.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

A/N: Sorry it took so long to update. I had a writers block and I've been trying to work on Bloodlines at the same time. Also, do you know who hard it is to write a fight scene while sitting in class without music, and listening to your teacher go on and on about the Internet? So if the fight scene sucked, it's cause I wrote most of it in a boring class; sorry.


	5. The River

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing.

**Warnings:** See first few chapters. If there were something to warn you of, I would warn you.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto crawled through his window and dropped onto his bed with a sigh. He had never stayed out that late before training, and all he wanted to do was sleep for the rest of the day. His eyelids slowly started to close and he began to drift off into sleep. A few minutes later, there was a loud knock on his door and Iruka poked his head into the room.

"Naruto, you need to get up." He said.

The Angel groaned and pulled the pillow over his head, "I don't wanna." He whined.

Iruka let out a sigh and walked over to pull the pillow off his head, taking in the bags under Naruto's eyes. He felt concern rush over him and placed a hand on his forehead, "You don't seem to be running a temperature, but you look awful."

"I didn't sleep well last night." He grunted as he sat up, "Do I need to go to practice today."

The brown haired man looked thoughtful, as he considered Naruto's condition. "You should be fine."

Naruto sighed and pulled himself from the bed, following Iruka downstairs where breakfast was waiting for him. Despite being tired, he was still hungry and the sight of breakfast made him feel better. In a matter of moments, the food had vanished off the table and the Angel was running out the door, leaving Iruka to clean up the dishes.

XXXXXXXXXXX

"You look like crap." Kiba stated bluntly, when he arrived at the training grounds.

"And you smell like dog." Naruto answered smoothly.

The dog lover eyed him curiously, wondering what had caused his blond friend to look so hassled that morning, but pushed it away as Sakura and Hinata joined their small group. Today was Friday and Sakura had planned for a small party that night in celebration of the Coming of Spring. It was a smaller party for the younger Angels before the actual party the next night that included the whole Realm.

Naruto cursed when Sakura reminded everyone of the celebration. He had forgotten about it completely after last nights training session and he had already told the shape shifter that he would be back that night, and a week ago, he had promised Sakura that he would be at her party. There was no way that he could back out of the party now either, Sakura would kill him, and then question him as to what was so important.

That would mean lying; something he wasn't that great at doing, and he couldn't tell on Sasuke.

There was a sharp, stinging sensation on his cheek and he looked up to see Kiba pinching it. His best friend grinned at him, "You are so out of it. Just standing there, looking at nothing when we've been trying to call you for the past minute."

"Sorry Kiba." He said laughing, "I was just thinking."

"Well that's a nice change." Sakura said.

He bit back his comment, not in the mood to make the pink haired Angel mad at him and simply shrugged. The group picked up back on their subject before the teachers came onto the training grounds and everyone broke off into their separate training sections.

Jiraiya was waiting for him underneath their normal tree and he eyed the cut on Naruto's arm. It was still early in the morning, too early for the blond to get into a fight with anyone, but after his years in the Realm, he had learned that anything was possible.

"Did you make Iruka mad this morning?" he asked.

Naruto cocked his head and his trainer pointed at the cut on his arm. He hadn't bothered to look for injuries this morning since Kyuubi normally took care of the scratches, but for some reason the fox hadn't done anything to heal them from last nights fight.

"No, I was sharpening my knives last night and, well, you know me." He said, even though the lie sounded bad to his ears.

"Okay." Jiraiya answered slowly, "And your little friend didn't do anything about it?"

Jiraiya was one of the few that knew of Kyuubi's healing powers besides Tsunade, Kakashi and Iruka who had been watching him since his arrival in the Heaven Realm. And even though he knew of the dangers of having Kyuubi back in the Realm, he was glad that he brought the boy back instead of killing him.

"He was tired last night."

"Tired? Since when does the great fox get tired?"

Naruto squirmed and silently begged Kyuubi for an idea, but the fox was too busy laughing at his predicament. "He says that I snore too loud at night and it keeps him up." He finally answered, trying to ignore Kyuubi's laughter, which had doubled since his last answer.

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow, but didn't answer. He knew that Naruto was lying, but decided not to press the issue further. Instead, he leaned forward until he was eye level with the Angels stomach and grinned, "Oh how the mighty have fallen, where a loud, snoring, blond Angel can keep the great Kyuubi awake at night, so he can't even heal a small scratch."

Instantly the laughter died down and Kyuubi fluffed his tails up, even though Jiraiya couldn't see him. '_Silence your mouth you inferior Angel, you know nothing of my power! I could crush you and your puny Realm with one of my tails in my sleep.'_

'_Kyuubi; he can't hear you.'_ Naruto thought, his body shaking with laughter.

Kyuubi snorted, his breath coming like steam in the imprisonment, but he showed his teeth in a smile, '_Don't worry kit, what he doesn't know won't hurt him.'_

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Sunlight filtered down through the thick tops of the trees in the forest, casting its light on a pale face. A few muscles twitched on the face before an eyelid cracked open, and black eyes glared at the offending sun. With a groan, a hand reached up and pulled a blanket over the face, successfully blocking out the sun. A moment later, the blanket was thrown off the body and a very grumpy looking Demon scowled at the surroundings.

"I hate mornings." He said aloud to the empty forest.

He stretched his arms out, popping his shoulders and then neck, before standing up to look around. It had been dark when he set up his campsite and cast the shield that made him invisible to those passing by, and now he had a chance to look around the area. He knew he was in a deeper part of the forest by the stillness of the surrounding area, and lack of full sunlight that was prominent in the Heaven Realm. But he was still close to a flowing river so he didn't need to worry about water or food for the time being.

Not that he planned on hunting for the next few months to keep himself content. There were always willing people who wouldn't miss some food, and he always had his new Angel 'friend' to turn to if things became despite.

He paused in his surveying to think about the events that happened that night. Never, in his entire career as an assassin/spy for Hell, had he ever made a mistake like the one he did last night. He should have just killed the blond Angel. It seemed that people didn't think highly of him, for some reason, and wouldn't have cared if he ended up missing.

But something had stopped him from killing Naruto. He found that he couldn't even bring himself to erase his mind.

It troubled him, but he pushed it aside for the time being as he pulled out some food. As he munched on the rations, his mind began to sort through what he still needed to do. He was sent to figure out where Heaven was keeping its defense and how strong they were compared to Hell's, this was going to be the most time consuming. He could only assume that their defenses were going to be well guarded and only accessible in the dark of night. So for now, he needed to settle with counting the population of the Realm, and finding which ones could fight.

Obviously, his little blond Angel was a guardian and could help fill in some blanks when need be, but he still needed to be cautious about asking questions. If he hadn't told the blond that he would see him again that night, he would be getting ready to go scouting tonight, but he could hold off until tomorrow night. Besides, the moon was casting a lot of light still, and he preferred to go during the times of the new moon, when there was no light.

He stretched out on his mat once he finished eating and pondered what to do with the rest of his day. Normally, he would practice with his brother or one of the guardian animals, but he needed to keep his energy covered at the moment so he didn't draw any unwanted attention. He scowled, disliking sitting around and doing nothing.

Finally, he sat up and began throwing his knives into the tree trunk to help relive his boredom.

XXXXXXXXXXX

By the time the sun reached the highest point in the sky, Naruto was ready to drop dead. The lack of sleep from last night's battle, along with a quick breakfast was starting to affect him. It didn't help that there was very little cloud coverage and the sun was beating down on the group of guardians, making them hot and sweaty.

"Alright Naruto, lets call it a day." Jiraiya called to the Angel, noticing his fatigue.

He found the blonds behavior unsettling. While he trained with vigor and showed his potential time and time again, something was on his mind, causing him to miscalculate simple problems. The older Angel wasn't sure if it had to do with the lack of sleep Naruto had mentioned earlier that day, or if it was something else.

"What's wrong kid?"

Naruto paused from picking up his knives and glanced at Jiraiya, "Nothing. I'm just tired. It took a while to fall asleep last night and I didn't eat a lot this morning."

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow, "You, not hungry. That'll be the day."

The Angel pouted; for once, he was telling the truth that he hadn't eaten; much. Sure, he stretched the truth at times to get someone to buy him ramen, but it was a known fact that he was a bottomless pit.

"Fine, lets go get something to eat, and you can tell me what's really bothering you over lunch."

Bright blue eyes lit up at the proposal and he trotted after Jiraiya as they headed into town, while in front of him, Jiraiya smiled. It didn't take much to make the blond talk to him; just a little bribing of food, and he could have all the information he wanted. However, food didn't always bride him, and they found that he could be quite stubborn at times.

Naruto chattered happily, as they walked through the town, looking at the tall buildings. Iruka lived on the outskirts of the city, opting for the quietness of the forest compared to the loud city where a lot of the businesses where located. The town was crowed today as people ran to and from shops, buying supplies for the party that was taking place over the weekend, while others were buying new clothes.

The Coming of Spring was a big deal in the Heaven Realm, just as the Arrival of Winter was for the Hell Realm. Spring provided new life to the Mortal Realm, which in turn, helped give the Angels more energy as new life bloomed on the Middle Territory and in their own area. The distribution of energy always caused controversy between the two areas, and an agreement was quickly reached that none of the Realms would attack the other during the weekend long celebration of the seasons. The extra energy flux only lasted for two to three days, usually under a full moon, but once the time period passed, things would return to normal.

Once they entered the ramen shop and ordered their noodles, Jiraiya looked at Naruto expectantly. Said blond twitched under the stare and let out a sigh.

"I'm just worried about this tonight and this weekend I guess." He said, looking at the table. It wasn't a full lie, since he was worried that Sasuke would be lonely in the woods by himself, but he wasn't about to tell Jiraiya that.

The older Angel chuckled, "What about tonight? Are you trying to woo someone special?"

Naruto thought about the pink haired Angel who was hosting the party, but instead of her green eyes, dark black ones flashed into his mind. He blushed when he realized that he was thinking about the shape shifter, and Jiraiya took this blush the wrong way.

"Oh! So there is someone that you're trying to get. Well, if you ever need advice…"

"Eh? No way, not from you!" Naruto cried.

"Well who do you expect to get it from, Iruka?" Jiraiya asked as the bowls of ramen were set in front of them, "I bet he hasn't gotten past holding hands with Kakashi, now me on the other hand."

Naruto clapped his hands over his ears, "No, no, no! I don't want to hear it, I'm trying to eat!"

He quickly brought his chopsticks up to his mouth and began to shovel the noodles into his mouth, drowning the bowl in a record two minutes. He let out a happy sigh and stood up, "Well, thanks for lunch."

Jiraiya reached out and grabbed his wrist, "What makes you think I'm paying for your meal?"

"Simple. You asked me to come to lunch with you, hence, you invited me and I am your guest. Second, you asked me to come so you could find out what was wrong with me; so, since you pried into my personal life, you owe me lunch."

The white haired Angel blinked at Naruto's reasoning. He would never admit it to the kid personally, but he had a different way of thinking that made him perfect to be a guardian, this proved it. However, Naruto never showed his intelligence to others, and it made Jiraiya wonder how Naruto would have turned out on the Mortal Realm if he hadn't been killed at birth. He let go of his wrist and waved him away, thankful that the other Angel only had one bowl of ramen.

Naruto walked through the streets of the town, eying the people running back and forth. He hated dressing up for this festival, but he loved the food and games that were present, so everything worked out for the better. However, tonight's party was going to be boring and he wondered if he could slip away early and meet back with Sasuke.

At the thought of the shape shifter, he realized that he still needed to tell him about tonight and he broke into a jog.

A short while later, he found himself in the forest that was behind Iruka's house, and he set out in search for the raven. After passing the area where they trained and finding nothing, he continued to go deeper into the forest, following the river that led to the lake, figuring Sasuke would be staying somewhere close to water. His guess was correct as he found him throwing knives at a tree.

"Hey Sasuke." He said and the raven glanced at him from the ground.

"Naruto? I thought you were going to busy today."

The Angel shrugged, "Well, my teacher let me out of practice early today and I forgot to tell you that I already had plans for tonight. I'm sorry that I can't come out tonight, or this weekend actually. It's the Coming of Spring celebration and we have our yearly festival this weekend."

Sasuke nodded his head slowly, enjoying this new bit of information. "So this celebration is something big?"

"Yeah!" Naruto exclaimed happily, "It's this huge festival that we have to welcome Spring to our Realm, and it last the whole weekend. We have food, games, parties, and on the last night, the sky is full with fireworks."

"Everyone goes to this thing."

"Well, yeah. Tonight's is just a smaller party for the younger Angel's that my friend is hosting, but tomorrow, everyone will be busy celebrating. You should come. Everyone will be so busy tomorrow that they won't notice someone new."

Sasuke shook his head, "It's best if I don't show myself yet."

Naruto looked at him and the Demon could see something flash behind the blue eyes, but a moment later it was gone. "That's okay. I'll bring you back some food."

There was a comfortable silence between them as the trees shifted overhead before Naruto spoke up again, "Hey Sasuke, do shape shifters have celebrations like we do?"

The Demon thought about the question for a second, knowing better than to answer about their yearly Arrival of Winter. "We celebrate the Coming of the Harvest Moon." He finally answered, "I'm not sure if your Realm has a Harvest Moon, but on the Mortal plane, we have one every fall."

"That sounds fun." Naruto answered quietly and Sasuke looked over at the Angel who was sprawled over the ground. His eyes were closed and his breathing was starting to even out as he began to fall asleep. He could only guess that the Angel didn't get a chance to sleep much when he got back that morning and decided to let him sleep, enjoying the company.

He felt better with the news that Naruto had told him. Now he had a chance to go scouting the next few nights without having to lie about where he was and what he did. Not that he minded lying; he was a Demon after all, but lying always had a way of coming back and biting people in the butt. He was not in the mood to get caught in a lie here. With a grunt, he stood up and began to pull the knives out of the tree trunk. If he was going scouting tonight, he needed to make sure his weapons were sharp.

Leaning against a tree trunk, he began to sharpen the knives that he was using against the tree. The bark had dulled the tips slightly, but they were still deadly enough to kill. Across from him, Naruto was still sleeping, letting out a soft snore every now and then, and Sasuke spun the knife around, knowing how easy it would be to just toss the weapon and kill the blond. But he restrained himself from doing it. Naruto was giving him information, whether he knew it or not, and he was going to milk out as much as he could.

Besides, the blond was too cute to inflict damage on.

He shook his head; did he just think that?

He grunted at himself for thinking about the Angel like that; but he couldn't help it. Most of the Demons in Hell weren't even close to being attractive like the blond in front of him. A shiver ran through his body as he thought about the snake demon; Orochimaru and his minion Kabuto. They performed experiments for the higher ups during times of war and stayed in the lower levels of the planes, never seeing the sun, making them almost as, if not, paler than some of the Uchiha's.

And Orochimaru was the one who created most of this mess.

If it was up to him, he would have sentenced the snake to damnation a long time ago, but some of the higher ups thought that he still had some potential to give to Hell. Sasuke didn't believe the higher ups, but he was in no position to argue with them over the man and just took the orders as they came. However, if the time were right, they would get rid of Orochimaru. Their Realm had more than enough power to defeat Heaven without a crazy man helping.

They had their cousin clan, the Hyuuga's, who were almost as powerful as the Uchiha clan, and more than one Angel had fallen to Hell's gate, giving them information they needed. But one hadn't fallen in a long time so their armies had no idea how many Angel's they were dealing with, so they sent him.

He sighed in disgust. This wasn't his favorite type of assignment, he much more preferred to assassinate someone, but if he needed to count, he could. And then there was that.

Sasuke looked up at Naruto, who was still asleep, and he wondered how long the blond was going to sleep. It was only two or so in the afternoon, and he wasn't sure when this party was, but was slightly anxious for it. If there was a party for the younger Angel's, then there were going to be other smaller parties for other groups of Angel's.

He leaned forward and shook Naruto's shoulder. "Hey."

Naruto grumbled something unintelligible and rolled over onto his side. Sasuke huffed slightly, and then reached down to pick him up. He carried the sleeping Angel to the nearby river, and dropped him unceremoniously into the water.

The Angel hit the cool water with a yell, and quickly bolted out of the river while Sasuke smirked slightly. Naruto glared at him, "What was that for?"

"You weren't waking up and don't you need to get ready for this party?"

"You seem awfully eager to get rid of me." Naruto said, acting hurt, "And for your information, the party isn't until later tonight."

Sasuke rolled his eyes at the Angel's acting, and then let out a un-Uchiha yelp as he was pushed from behind. When he emerged from the water, he could see Naruto rolling around on the ground, laughing himself sick. He reached up and grabbed the blond's ankle, dragging him closer to the water.

"No, I'm already wet!" he yelled, trying to grab at something to keep him out of the river, but Sasuke gave a strong tug, and he went tumbling into the water; again.

He came up sputtering and glared at Sasuke, who gave a small smile at him. "Don't smile at me like you didn't do anything." The Angel lunged at him, and successfully dunked his head under the water.

From under the water, the Demon reached out, wrapping his arms Naruto's waist and pushed him down. Naruto's head disappeared under the water and the two glared at each before the need for air became too great and they reappeared on the surface. The Angel smiled and held out his hand, "Truce?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, and hesitantly grasped the hand. "Truce."

They climbed out of the river and Naruto shook his head, spraying water everywhere. "Great, now I don't need to shower when I get back."

The Demon snorted, but didn't say anything, and instead, took in the soaked Angel. The wet look did him justice as droplets of water fell from his blond locks and trickled down his whiskered face. All self-control left him when Naruto took off his shirt to wring out the water, giving him a nice view of tone muscles.

"Sasuke, your nose is bleeding." Naruto said when he finally looked up.

Sasuke quickly reached up to pinch his nose, "I must have hit something when you pushed me in the river."

"Ah, I'm so sorry!" Naruto cried but Sasuke waved it off, his nose finally slowing down.

"It's alright, but you should probably go back and change before you get sick."

Naruto nodded and waved bye to Sasuke, "I'll come by tomorrow afternoon before we leave for the festival, okay?"

The raven grunted in response and Naruto walked away. Once he was gone from sight, Sasuke kicked the tree in anger, "What the hell was that?!"

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"What happened to you?" Iruka asked when Naruto walked through the door.

He was still wet, despite the sun warming him on the way back. Naruto shrugged, "I went for a quick swim in the river."

"It's only Spring! That water's cold, now go shower and get ready for Sakura's party."

Naruto grumbled as he trudged up the steps and into his room. After a long, hot shower, he moved around his room, trying to find something to wear, and after settling with something he liked, he headed downstairs where Iruka was reading a book.

"I'm going." He stated as he headed for the door, while outside, it was starting to get dark.

Iruka glanced up, "Be careful going over there and have fun."

The blond waved his hand and shut the door behind him, before heading towards Sakura's house.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Sasuke watched the moonrise on the horizon while behind him, the sun started to set. It was slowly becoming dark, and he blended in perfectly in the background. As soon the sun disappeared below the horizon, the Demon took to the skies.

He wasn't lying completely when he told Naruto that he was a shape shifter, he could change into a raven for missions like this. Below him, houses twinkled with party lights, and people walked to the small parties that were going on. After making a circuit of the Realm, he landed in a tree and pulled out a piece of paper, and began marking down the major landmarks of the area. It would be hard to count people now, since so many were in houses at the moment, but tomorrow, when everyone was out, he could get a better idea.

For now, he settled with the landmarks of the area, including the area where the representatives for the higher ups stayed, the weaponry, and the Academy. After marking these down, he changed and took flight again, scanning the outskirts of the district where the guards were positioned. Here, he found a few more gates that he never knew about; gates that led to the Mortal Realm.

'_This is interesting.'_ He thought as he passed by the gates again.

He counted at least two gates that Hell knew about, but the other two were new. Either they had built these over the years since the peace was settled, or they had hidden them extremely well from Hell's forces during the war. He dropped to another tree and began marking down the gates and the number of guards at each one, before taking to the sky.

Despite his want to quickly get this part of the mission done, he had to be careful. Flying overhead the entire Realm was risky business if he didn't mask his Macht completely. If one of the guards happened to notice even the slightest Demon trace in the Realm, everything would go on lock down and every place would be searched; it wouldn't take long until he found if this happened. But he was an expert in infiltration, and he wouldn't slip up.

After his quick rest, he was in the air again, searching for any spots that seemed to quite; as they seemed to be the place where secret weapons would be hiding. Heaven didn't break their territory into planes, as Hell did, which was something Sasuke never understood. The lower planes where their greatest secrets were kept had never been broken into, and if they had, the Angel or Demon that had broken in, never made it out alive. Heaven however, liked to conceal their greatest secrets, making them invisible to the spies.

But this plan had a flaw.

By concealing the secret and making it invisible to everyone who was searching for it, it made the surrounding areas emit no Macht or energy of any type. This was because all the energy around the secret was being channeled to keep invisible. It was hard to pick out the areas that didn't radiate energy though, and most could walk right through the area and never know it, because either they didn't know, or they couldn't feel the energy.

Only those who had been trained to look for the lack of Macht could tell where the area was, and a very rare few were so in touch with the energy of a Realm, that they could feel the lack of energy. He was one of the first. Never, in all his life had he met someone who could feel the Macht of a Realm.

As he flew over an area, the lack of Macht caught his attention. He tilted to the side and glided towards the region.

It was covered with thick trees, and wasn't that far from the gates, which meant guards were always nearby. He let out a squawk of resentment and banked away from the area. There was no way he wanted to draw the attention of guards this early in his mission, besides, he was getting tired from flying around and he needed to mark down a few things.

He landed in a tree near his campsite and began to mark down the new location that he found as well as the distance it was to the gate. After finishing with the marks, he made a cleaner copy of the map, and then destroyed the older one. He dropped to the ground and began to walk back to his site, looking for places to stash the new map. The map was covered in a spell that kept it hidden, much like that of the secret Heaven had.

However, it would be harder to find.

After depositing the paper into a safe place, he wondered back to his campsite and dropped to the ground. He was tired still from last nights fight and today's flying session. It wasn't often that he needed to change into a raven for such a long period of time, but it was nothing that he couldn't handle. He checked the barrier one last time to make sure that it still stood, before falling into a deep sleep.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

A/N: Yea, chapter five is done. Next chapter is when things start to get interesting. Hehe. Anyway, thanks to everyone who reviewed, it makes me very happy and makes me want to write more. I'm hoping that my summer classes won't be too boring and have a lot of homework since I want to keep writing this summer; well, here's to hoping. We'll see what my class says tomorrow.

Review please?


	6. Spring's Festival

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing.

**Warnings:** See first few chapters. If there were something to warn you of, I would warn you.

**_'Kyuubi thinking'_**

**_"_Kyuubi talking'**

* * *

A/N: You know, I forgot to ask if ya'll want any side pairings. I won't specify the couples in this chapter, (we can just call them friends) but if I have enough of a request for a pairing, I'll work them in for the rest of the story. Um, the only one that I already have is KakaIru, but that's all that is stated at the moment, besides SasuNaru. Also, the next chapter is written already, it was original all one chapter, but I thought it was too long so I split it up. Besides, this was the easy part to write and I might change parts in the next chapter; again. Enjoy.

* * *

Peace. Calm. Serenity.

These were the three things he thought about as the darkness surrounded him. Never mind that they all mean close to the same thing or that many others would find the pitch black room suffocating. He was not others and he welcomed the darkness that embraced him.

Dark eyes glanced to either side, taking in the emptiness before he let out a sigh and random shapes started to come into view. They randomly floated in front of him, intertwining through each other, forming knots and loops, before connecting to the floor.

He followed their paths as they continued to float about the room and he started to connect the loose strands to the strands that were located at the floor. Moments passed by and he continued to connect the lines as they started to take a shape. The colors began to change from dark red and blues to a lighter color blue and yellows began to show.

A few minutes passed as he continued and he felt his eyes widen as he realized what he was doing.

Sasuke opened his eyes, blinking at the faint lines of sun that made their way through the trees. He sat up from his makeshift bed and looked around at the landscape before running a tired hand over his face. It had been years since he made actual figures in his mediations like that, let alone a person; this person. Most of the time the random lines just kept coming repeatedly as he followed their positions and movement through the infinite space.

He had learned the training technique from his brother a few years after they arrived in Hell. Itachi had told him that it was a game he played when he slept and found that it helped calm his mind. He said that once you calmed your mind down, random colors of 'string' would appear in your sight and as time passed more and more would appear, and the days events helped to shape how the 'strings' would act.

In his experience, Sasuke found that on days that he had missions, the strings acted more violent and multiplied quicker; making it harder to connect the loose strands to the floor and form images. On the days that things were calm, the colors would float around lazily as he walked through them, shaping them one by one, forming events from the day.

It had taken a while to figure out how to control the strings and he spent most of his spare days meditating so he could erase the pointless thoughts that were running through his mind and focus on other things. He had sense then mastered the strings in his mind and could easily influence them to do what he wanted.

He stifled a yawn as he lay back down. Tonight was going to be another long night with the start of the festival and he was still tired from the previous night. Dark eyes stared at the trees in front of him before his eyelids started to close and he went back to his strings.

* * *

"Hungry."

Silence.

"I'm hungry."

Silence. Again.

Grumbling, Naruto dragged himself from his bed and trudged to the door, opened his mouth…"

'_**Kit, it's not going to work; just go downstairs and get something to eat**__.'_

"But I'm hungry." He whined.

Kyuubi rolled his eyes at the boy and laid his head down between his paws. Tonight was the start of the Spring Festival, a night that Naruto usually let him have fun. Even though he was a fallen Angel; he was still an Angel and drew his power from the Spring Festival like everyone else. Ever since the blond Angel had found out about him, they had started a tradition and he was looking forward for tonight.

The sound of rummaging brought his attention back as Naruto pulled out some food from the fridge and dropped it on the countertop. '_**Did you remember to bring some food back?**__'_

'_Yeah. I have time to slip away this afternoon before I need to get ready. I'll drop by then.'_

Naruto settled himself on the chair and bit into the toast before he started to throw some food into a bag. He had managed to bring back plenty of food from the party without drawing any questions from his friends and now the only thing to do was get out to the forest before Iruka could ask what he was up to. After placing the dishes in the dishwasher, he headed back upstairs to shower and get ready for the day.

After he was showered and dressed, he scribbled a note for Iruka so the Angel wouldn't freak out, and then headed towards the forest.

It was bright out and a few clouds floated lazily overhead; it was going to be a nice night for the festival. He made his way deeper into the wooded area, easily remembering where the shape shifter was staying, while trying to think of ways to convince the other male to come with him to the festival. As he approached the campsite, he found himself staring at the bundle of blankets in front of him.

'_**He doesn't seem like the type to sleep in**__.'_ Kyuubi said.

Naruto squatted next to the pile of blankets, "Sasuke." He whispered, poking a finger at the material. He pushed back some of the covering, revealing the pale face. '_Do you think he's dead, no, wait, his eyes are moving; is he dreaming?' _He asked Kyuubi as he rocked back on his heals. The fox didn't answer and Naruto moved forward and spoke up, "Sasuke, wake up before I kick you."

He found himself on his back in a matter of seconds with a knife placed next to his throat. Blue eyes blinked at the person above him, taking in the dark black eyes that glared down harshly at him.

"I figured you weren't a morning person but this is a little harsh isn't it?" Naruto finally choked out.

The voice seemed to snap Sasuke out of his glare and he removed the knife from the blonds neck, muttering something about not sleep well. He placed the knife back in its spot and leaned against a tree, studying the Angel, "Why are you here so early Naruto?"

The Angel grinned widely, "I brought you some food." He brought out the bag, "I wasn't sure what you wanted so I just grabbed a bunch of things last night."

Sasuke didn't answer and instead opened the bag, searching for something that looked good. As he ate, he noticed Naruto staring at him, and he glared at him, "Do you have to watch me while I eat; it's getting on my nerves."

"Sorry. I was just thinking."

"About?"

Naruto was silent for a while before he answered softly, "What were you dreaming about?"

The raven fought the urge to roll his eyes at the pointless question, "I don't dream."

"But your eyes were moving; you had to have been dreaming about something."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. It was impossible for Demons to dream. It seemed that a side effect of dying was the inability of the brain to produce dreams when they were asleep. He wasn't sure if it was only for his kind or if it extended to Angels as well. For Demons, there were no dreams; only random memories that floated across the blank space in their sleep, and the more than occasional nightmare that tended to attack them at night.

"I told you Naruto, I don't dream."

"You didn't see anything?"

"Nothing."

Blue eyes lowered to the ground, "I'm sorry."

Sasuke glanced at him, "For what? It's not like I'm missing out on anything." He answered and leaned back on the ground, looking at the sky. He wasn't sure what the point the Angel was trying to make but he wanted to drop the subject in case something came up that shouldn't.

"What time does your celebration start tonight?" he asked.

Naruto perked up, the subject of the dream moved to the back of his mind, "It's actually started today but everyone comes out tonight for the festival. There will be a lot of food, games, and rides; you should come, you'd have tons of fun."

The Demon shook his head, "I'll probably stay here, I didn't sleep well last night so I want to get to bed early. Maybe the next time you have your celebration I'll come."

"Okay." Naruto chirped happily and stood up, "I need to get back, but I'll drop some more food by tomorrow. The festival always has the best food."

Sasuke waved him away and watched as he left. Once he vanished from sight, he allowed his eyes to close for a brief second before he opened them again. It was only afternoon; still a long time before he could continue his mission. With a sigh he thought about the area he found last night; knowing that he would need to visit it again and he hoped that with the festival, the guards wouldn't be there. After all, the Treaty was honored from both sides and they had no right to suspect anything.

It had been by stroke of luck that the council had sent him during this time, when all of the Angels would be at one spot. Tonight he would count them and tomorrow he would snoop around the Realm. He wanted to check the training grounds as well and see how the Guardians were fairing with their fighting skills. He knew Naruto was a Guardian but asking too many questions would make the blond suspicious.

Naruto wasn't stupid; Sasuke knew that. He also knew that the Angel had exceptional skills and he needed to find out whether those skills came from the training he was given. If so, an army of Angels at that strength would provide a challenge for Hell.

His mind buzzed with questions giving him a headache. Most of these were going to be answered tonight and he needed to prepare for the trip. He cleared his mind and began his mediation again. The strings came into view and in his mind he snorted.

'_Dreams.'_

* * *

"No."

A blur of orange was tossed to the side.

"Yuck."

Something white landed in a heap.

"When did I get this?"

Naruto paused and held up the black T-shirt with red writing on it. He cocked his head as he tried to remember, then the light clicked and he tossed the shirt aside and mumbled, "Stupid Kiba and his dares."

'_**I thought it was funny**__.'_

"Not helping." He answered aloud, "We were just lucky that we weren't caught. There would have been hell to pay."

'_**Maybe, but you had a good time**__.'_

The Angel thought about that for a while then answered, "Yeah, I'd never been to the Mortal Realm before. It's funny."

Kyuubi didn't answer. He disliked bringing up the Mortal Realm at times with the Angel, knowing that it was slightly his fault the boy didn't know what the Mortal Realm was like. No one really explained that a crazy man killed him shortly after birth. He had always assumed that he died due to complications at birth and thought that the fox was a side effect of some sort. Of course, he did know about Kyuubi's past, but he didn't seem bothered by it and since Naruto never asked about his own death; he never told.

'_Why are you so quiet?'_

The fox looked up and saw Naruto standing in front of him. Blue eyes looked at him and he squirmed under their stare; the eyes that seemed to see through everything.

"You're not worried about tomorrow are you? I still plan to keep our tradition."

"**Kit, that's not what I'm thinking about**."

The Angel cocked his head, "Then what's got you so fidgety?"

"**Naruto, I-"**

The sound of knocking pulled them from their thoughts and Naruto glanced at the door as Iruka let himself in. The older Angel looked around the room, then to the floor that was covered in discarded clothes. "Haven't you picked anything yet?"

Naruto grinned sheepishly, "I have pants picked out, I just need to find the right shirt."

Iruka rolled his eyes, "I'm going to leave you if you're not ready."

"You just want to see your boyfriend." He teased and the brunette blushed lightly.

"Just be ready to leave soon." Iruka said before leaving Naruto to sort through the pile of clothes on the floor.

* * *

The day slowly started to fade into dusk, and faint lights shown in the distance. Angels started to come out of their houses, and headed towards the direction talking excitedly, ready to relax and enjoy the weekend festival. Lights were strung from the vender booths that sold food and boasted games for people to play, while further back, rides were large shadows against the slowly setting sun. Children ran with excitement towards the rides while older teens tried their hand at the games.

As the sun continued to set, the older Angels made their way to the festival grounds after they had spent most of the day with friends and catching up on the times. Couples found themselves drawn towards the dance floor where soft music played; tempting them to rekindle their love lives after death, while younger ones tried to start what they never were able try.

Naruto floated between the aisles of the booths surrounded with his friends after leaving Iruka. He wasn't in the mood to sit and watch people dance when there were rides that needed to be ridden and food that was begging to be consumed. His mouth drooled at the thought of funnel cakes and cotton candy.

He heard his name being called and he pulled his attention away from the food stalls and towards the speaker, "What?"

Sakura sighed, "I said we should go on the rides now and eat later, we don't need to get sick. Besides, the lines are still short for the rides and the food will always be here."

They agreed and made their way towards the large rides. After a quick wait for the next cart, they piled into the cars.

"You're not going to scream are you?" Kiba taunted.

Naruto turned back towards the other male, "I never scream on rides, but you might wet yourself if you're not careful."

"You wish."

They were cut off from arguing as the car jolted forward and crept up the large incline. The clank of the chain was loud and Naruto felt his heart start to race as they neared the top of the ride, giving them a perfect view of the entire festival and most of the Realm as well. He glanced towards the forest area but his attention was jerked forward as the car shot down the large hill and he felt the wind rush past his cheeks.

Screams were heard in the further back of the car and Naruto laughed as they banked around a sharp turn, then shot up into a large loop. The ground flashed at them for a brief second before they were right side up again and headed towards the last few moments of the ride. They felt the train slow down and the station came into view again, drawing out several 'lets go again' from people.

The group of friends exited the ride and glanced around, trying to figure out which ride to try next.

"That's a new one." Ino said, pointing towards a single tower like ride.

"It doesn't look like much fun." Naruto stated.

Kiba looked at it for a bit longer, "Oh, I remember this ride now. It takes you straight up, lets you sit for a while, and then drops you. "Its real fun, we should go on it next."

Sakura shook her head, "I'm not so sure about this one."

"Fine, Naruto and I will ride it." Kiba stated and draped an arm over Naruto's shoulder, "Unless you're scared too."

The blond shook his head, "Never, let's go."

Both Angels weaved their way through the crowd and jumped into a seat. The attendant came by a clipped the restraints over their shoulders and then left to go wait for some more riders to show up. Kiba swung his legs back and forth while they waited while Naruto stared at the seatbelt. They both jerked their heads up when someone called their names and Kiba groaned.

"Not him."

Naruto glanced at the person in front of them, "Lee, I thought you were on duty today."

He shook his head, "Nope, they let us out early today for our glorious festival."

"But why are you here?" Kiba asked, pointing at the ground.

Lee flashed a smile, "I saw Sakura and she said that I needed to go on this ride before I could join you guys."

Naruto rolled his eyes as Lee buckled himself in and a few more people joined them on the ride. There was a small jerk before the chairs started to rise in the air, taking them higher than the previous ride.

Kiba glanced over at the blond as they continued to rise in the air and grinned, "Don't hold your legs out like that when they drop you, they could break.(1)"

Blue eyes widened and he quickly clamped his legs to the underside of the ride while Kiba howled with laughter. "Man, I was just kidding."

He never got a chance to respond. They had already reached the top and Kiba was too busy laughing to realize it until the ride let go. The brunette let out a yell as they plummeted to the ground and by the time the ride came to a stop, Naruto couldn't stop laughing.

"You screamed, admit it!"

"No I didn't; it just caught me off guard." Kiba huffed as they made their way back to the female Angels who were sipping some soda.

"Kiba, we could hear you yell from here." Ino said

"Can we just go get something to eat?" He growled.

The group chuckled at his pouting but headed in the direction of the food booths.

* * *

Hundreds of little specks dotted the ground. They looked liked ants; ants that just begged to be squashed.

Above the festival, red eyes flashed as they took in the number of people that could be seen. It was close to midnight and the entire Realm was in one location, all of the houses were empty, no one was at home or work; they were all enjoying the crisp night.

The raven banked to the left and headed towards the direction of the forested area. After selecting a nice sized branch, the bird touched down and changed shape. Black hair fell into place as the person reached into a pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. He scribbled some numbers down and looked over them again as his mind raced to count the newest amount of numbers.

This was Hell's gift to the Uchiha clan.

Their eyes allowed them a photographic memory; perfect for infiltration missions like this. So far, he had counted the majority of the people at the festival, pausing only briefly to write the numbers down before heading to the skies again. The only trouble he had was when the Angels moved around a lot or when they were hidden in a building.

Sasuke took to the sky again ready for his last count. He would rest after that until the final hour when the fireworks would light up the sky. During that time, he would be able to double check his numbers since the Angels would all be in one spot and unmoving. Tomorrow night, he would head towards that training area and try to sneak in.

After his last round, he landed on a branch again and looked at his watch. It would be another hour or so before the firework show started and this would be his only chance to rest before he was back at work counting again. He stretched and leaned back against the tree trunk, allowing his senses to check for any nearby Angels. When he was certain that none were in the area, he relaxed a notch and waited.

* * *

Naruto stifled a yawn as they headed away from a game booth. After grabbing a bite to eat, Kiba and Lee challenged him to some games while the females went shopping. Never one to back down from a challenge, he agreed and they had spent the next hour playing games. His eyes glared at the stuffed toy that the owner had given him for winning one of the games.

It was a little blue, stuffed, rubber duck, wrapped in ninja like clothes with a sword sewn onto its side. (2) He didn't want the duck though, he wanted the big stuffed dog, but no; Lee had won that one. Kiba on the other had, was stuck with a small key chain; turns out, he wasn't that great at tossing rings onto bottles.

"Come on you guys, the fireworks are about to start." Ino said, waving them over to a nearby booth. She looked at the prizes in their hands and giggled slightly, "Naruto, your prize is so cute; did you pick that one out yourself?"

"No, the stupid owner did."

"Troublesome."

Naruto poked his head around Ino and smiled, "Hey you found Shikamaru. I didn't think you would show up to the event."

"There were no clouds to watch and they dragged me here."

The girls chuckled at his answer as they made their way towards the edge of the festival where a crowd was gathering. Most of the Angels had already staked out areas and it took a while before the small group of friends found a spot on a hill. They sat on the grass and waited for the first firework to light up the sky. They didn't need to wait long and soon they heard the loud screaming as the first one took to the sky.

* * *

Sasuke opened an eye at the screaming noise and stood up from his branch. It was time to go and make sure his numbers were correct.

From his position, he could see the area where the Angels had gathered, transfixed by the lighting display in the sky. His eyes flashed red as they swept across the rows near the front of the site and began to work their way backwards; checking for anyone hiding in the shadows. On his knee was a piece of paper that was slowly filling up with tally marks after every twentieth Angel was counted.

He allowed his eyes to adjust as a bright firework lit up the sky and then resumed counting again. He was close to the back of the land now but years of training kept his mind calm and focused on the task that he was working on. If he allowed himself to get excited or carried away, he could lose count and would have to start over again and that was something he didn't have time to do. The fireworks show only lasted for so long and he wasn't going to mess this chance up.

When he reached the end of the field, he let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. His eyes swept over the land one last time looking for anyone that he might have missed but he found none. After his check was complete, he moved back into the deeper parts of the forest and glanced down at the paper in his hands. He skimmed the paper, counting the tally marks that he made as he transferred the tick marks onto a cleaner sheet of paper.

He would need to watch the gates every day to keep track of new Angels coming in, but that wouldn't be too hard. One part was down, but it was only the beginning.

* * *

1) Ha, when I first went on a ride like that, my friend told me the same thing, and I did the same thing. Good times.

2) I want one! Yeah, I thought about giving him a fox or something like that; but everyone does that and besides; who doesn't like rubber duckies? And yes, I've seen ninja rubber duckies (On a side note; I own a red devil duck)


	7. Capture

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing.

**Warnings:** See first few chapters. If there were something to warn you of, I would warn you

**Read this note!!**: Heh, did I get your attention? If not it'll be at the bottom as well. Okay then, I'm leaving on July 10th to go on a month long study abroad with my school; _I will not have my computer_, which means, no updates for a month. And to add to this, when I get back, I have another small trip to pick up something for my best friend (namely her very, very, late Christmas present), and after that I'll finally be at home for about a week. Then I'm being shipped off to see my grandparents, where they have no Internet (I'm just going to be Internet deprived next month), however, I will be working on my stories up there; when I'm not watching the Olympics. Long story short; I'm going to be gone for about a month and a half. Sorry. On the bright side; should something happen to me (i.e., the plane going down), my friend knows the plotlines for my fics and promises to take care of ya'll. I will leave you now on this happy note and let you enjoy the story. **End Important Notice**

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It was close to noon when Naruto finally opened his eyes. He was still tired from getting back so late, but the birds outside were starting to get annoying and they were doing a great job at keeping him from falling back asleep. The blonde-haired Angel had gotten home around two o' clock that morning and instantly fell asleep the moment his body touched the bed.

Despite the tired state of his body, he could feel the extra energy coursing through his veins, and when he woke up earlier that day, he already felt recharged. However, he wanted to be lazy for once and stayed in the warm bed, drifting back to sleep for a couple more hours. It wasn't as if he was missing anything. Most of the older Angels would be nursing hangovers and trying to recuperate for the final night.

With a sigh, he pushed the covers back and padded to his bathroom. His head hurt a little bit due to the amount of sugar he consumed that night and he was hungry for some real food. After showering off and brushing his teeth, he walked down the steps and into the kitchen. He moved around the kitchen, making his brunch as quietly as possible so he didn't wake the older Angel up.

He slowly ate his food; enjoy the rich taste and letting it fill his stomach. When he finished eating, he cleaned up the area and pulled out the food he had brought back for Sasuke. He didn't want to go visit him earlier when he first woke up since yesterday the shape shifter was still asleep when he visited, but now it was close to noon and he hoped that Sasuke was awake by now.

The weather was nice outside again, if not a little cloudy, but tonight was going to be another beautiful night. His body shivered slightly as he thought about what he was going to do tonight with Kyuubi. He knew that it was probably forbidden and if people found out what they did every Spring; he would either be killed or banished. He pushed the thoughts from his mind as he continued to walk; there was no reason to think about that now. It wouldn't happen until later that night when most of the Angels were busy with the festival and he could slip away during the concert. He shifted the bag of food into a different hand and continued to walk through the forest, enjoying the silence.

A pile of blankets came into view as he round the large tree and he rolled his eyes. "Are you nocturnal or something Sasuke?"

There was no movement and Naruto sighed as he dropped the bag to the forest floor. His mind went back to the previous day when he tried to wake the raven and how he ended up on the ground with a knife to his throat. Instead, he walked around the blankets to the foot of the makeshift bed and yanked the material off the sleeping teen.

Black eyes snapped open and Naruto jumped backwards as Sasuke charged at him. "Give me back my blanket you bastard." He snarled.

Something blue flew through the air and landed on the raven's head, making him fight with the material before he finally yanked it off his head, "Itac-" Sasuke started, but stopped when he found himself facing blue eyes instead of black ones. He glared at Naruto, "Do you like being my alarm clock?"

Naruto pouted, "I was just bringing by some food."

"Why didn't you just leave it on the ground then? I would have found it." He snapped, and then regretted it when the blue eyes narrowed. Sasuke gritted his teeth, "Sorry, I didn't sleep well last night; those damn fireworks kept me up."

The Angel shrugged, "Tonight's the last night, although we'll have music instead of fireworks tonight."

Sasuke grunted, "Whatever, just let me sleep tomorrow." He reached for the bag that sat next to him and fought the frown that threatened to take over his face as he searched through the bag. With a sigh, he pushed the bag back to Naruto, "You can keep it, I'm not hungry."

His stomach chose that moment to growl in protest and he growled back at it, ignoring the look Naruto was giving him. "You're lying."

The raven looked away. He knew he was lying, he was starving after last nights all nighter, but he wasn't about to eat anything in that bag. "I don't like sweets."

Naruto stared at him then started to laugh, "Yeah right, everyone likes sweets."

"I don't."

"You're weird then." The response was blunt and Sasuke felt his lips twitch at the comeback. He faced the Angel again and saw him looking through the bag again, before he emerged with some food in his hand, "Here, try this one. It's not very sweet, even you should be able to handle it."

Sasuke stared at the item with disgust before Naruto launched himself at him, successfully pinning him down. He reached up and grabbed hold of Sasuke's wrists, and straddled his hips, while the other hand tried to force his mouth open. Sasuke growled at the hand that was on his chin and when the tanned hands let go of his hands, he was able to flip their positions.

"What the hell was that?" He snapped, but gagged when something was shoved in his mouth. Fighting his gag reflex, he turned his head to the side and spit out the offending item.

"You didn't even try it." Naruto cried from the ground.

"It was too sweet. I told you, I don't like sweets."

The Angel rolled his eyes, "Fine, but I pinned you first."

"Idiot, you caught me by surprise, but you're under me now."

Sasuke missed the red tint that crept up on Naruto's neck as the raven went to get up, only to be tossed onto the ground again. He blinked the stars away that swam in front of him and he finally focused on the dancing blond Angel a few feet away. With a quick flick of his wrist, he sent his whip out at the Angel but it hit air. He glanced at the spot were Naruto was standing and then found him sitting on a tree branch.

Naruto waved a finger, "It's not gonna work Sasuke. It's the Spring Festival, remember. I'm on full power right now." He said and flexed an arm muscle, "Fear my power."

The raven felt his lips twitch in amusement at the statement and stood up as Naruto dropped down from the tree. He grinned at him before lacing his fingers together behind his head, "Okay, I get it. Mr. Grumpy wants to go back to sleep. I'll let you go back to your beauty sleep and I won't bother you tomorrow."

Sasuke sighed, "I'll spar with you tomorrow night." He said. "Just let me catch up on some sleep."

Naruto nodded his head eagerly and Sasuke waved him away, ready to curl up on his bed and go back to sleep. He had a long night tonight and planned to sleep for the rest of the day after that. After dropping down on the pile of blankets, he glanced at the bag of food and found the item that Naruto had tried to make him eat.

Hesitantly he bit into it and forced his throat to swallow. He waited a few minutes to see how his stomach would react before taking another bite. It seemed that the idiot was right; it wasn't that bad.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Night fell quickly and the once empty Realm came to life again as the sunset. Naruto found his way through the crowded grounds and waved at the group of people waiting for him. There were a few more people joining them today and he was glad to see all his friends together.

"Sorry I'm late." He said as he joined them and then looked at the two newcomers, "Hey Choji, Hinata."

They nodded their hellos and Kiba grinned, "So, what are we doing today?"

Naruto shrugged, "Well, we went on a few rides yesterday; we can go on the rest today before the concert starts."

After a quick debate on which ride to take first, they headed off in the direction of a spinning ride. Naruto hung back for a second before running to catch up with the group. He had forgotten to think of an excuse when he returned home from seeing Sasuke and he needed a good one before they went to go see the concert. He glanced at the group of people in front of him and he felt a small twinge of guilt.

His friends didn't know that every year he left early and let Kyuubi have fun with his body. Instead, he would come up with a lie or just slip away during the last day, but he wondered how long he would be able to keep up the lie. It disliked lying to everyone, but it was necessary. He pushed the thought aside for the moment, if he was distracted right now, someone would suspect something and that was the last thing he needed.

XXXXXXXXXX

Sasuke followed the lack of Macht lines and headed towards the area he found the other night. This place had sparked his interest the most, seeing as how heavily guarded it was. However, at the moment, there were no guards protecting the area, thanks to the Festival and he dropped down a little bit from the enclosure. Even if the place wasn't guarded, he still needed to be careful and he made sure that he kept his guard up.

He walked around the large perimeter, searching for the weak spot. After two times around the area, he finally found a small spot that was a couple feet off the ground. He scanned the shield before pushing a Macht covered hand through the invisible field, pausing every now and then to see if anything happened. After confirming that an alarm wasn't going to go off, he slowly followed his hand and pushed his body through.

The inside of the building was dark, and his eyes flashed as they swept across the ground floor. The building was large and it reminded him of a warehouse, but this warehouse was empty. Nothing sat on its floor and nothing hung on the walls. He scanned the dirt floor, checking for anything etched into the ground, but he found nothing, and to confuse him even more, there was a lack of recent Macht lines. Old traces hung in the air, but they were years old and he wondered when the last time the place was used.

A growl of annoyance sounded from his throat. It seemed like this place was just an abandoned training center, but he still couldn't figure out why it was so heavily covered. After all, he knew where all the other training centers were; they didn't try to hide those. He took to the air again and made his way out of the building with a squawk of disgust.

He hung in the air for a while as the wind carried him closer to the populated area before he banked to the right. The training grounds came into view and he landed softly on the schools roof. The area wasn't protected at all and he easily slipped into the building through the window. He moved through the hallways, taking in the number of classrooms and seats in each one before searching for the weapon room.

Sasuke guessed that the basement was the best place to start and started his search there. He blended in with the shadows as he traveled down the stone corridors, checking each of the doors. After searching for a few minutes, he finally found the right door and slipped inside the room. His eyes scanned the large room as they took in the large amount of weapons and noted that they were in good shape.

After marking down the weapon inventory, he snuck back into the hallway and continued his way towards the library. He needed information on the current guardians and their levels. The raven wasn't sure if he could find such information in the school and suspected that it would be with the Realms higher ups, but it never hurt to check.

He found the library one flight above the basement and noticed that it took up the entire floor. Scrolls and books covered the walls and more bookshelves were placed throughout the floor. There was no way he could find what he needed to know in one night, it would take at least a month to move through here unseen and find everything he needed. Tonight wasn't going to be one of those nights.

Instead, he decided to finish looking at the nearby training grounds. The training grounds always had traces of Macht lines left over from the last training session and as long as they were a week old, he could tell how strong the Guardians were from the lines. He made his way to the grass covered grounds and hesitated as he placed a foot on the grass.

The hair on the back of his neck prickled and he quickly changed into his raven form before taking to the sky. He headed back towards the forest area like a normal bird should but his body was filled with nervous tension. He knew that someone else had been in that area and they were not there earlier. He spared a glance over his wing and felt his eyes go wide.

He was being followed.

He cursed and dropped out of the sky. It was now pointless to hide as a bird, he was fairly certain that his tracker knew he was either a Demon or a rouge spy. To confirm his suspicion, the Angel who was following him picked up its pace, determined not to let him get away and now that he was coming closer, Sasuke could see a weapon in the Angels hand.

The bird shifted direction, trying to decide whether to reveal himself or if he should just play it off. He wasn't completely sure that the brown haired Angel knew he was a Demon. His decision was made when an attack was thrown at him without any warning. The bird form shifted and he felt his black wings pierce the air. He flipped in the air as the attack flew by him and the air was filled with a tingling feeling. Sasuke glared up at the Angel and made sure to that his eyes stayed their normal color; it would do him no good to reveal that he was an Uchiha this early in the game.

Killing an Angel wasn't on his agenda but it wouldn't be too hard to wipe the memory of his attacker. All he needed to do was pin him somewhere or weaken him enough to get close to him. The fool would just think that he had a bad hangover the next morning.

He spun around and launched an attack of his own, watching the whip arch through the air to deliver a cut on the Angels leg. The whip arched a second time and found itself around the Angel's body, pinning his arms to his side. Sasuke pulled back, drawing his captive closer, but was surprised when his weapon was suddenly shredded.

Before he could make any sense of the destroyed weapon, a large wave of water charged at him, knocking him out of the air and he slammed into the ground. His wings were soaking wet and at the moment, useless. Brown eyes darted up to the sky to see the Angel hovering in the air and he pushed his chestnut hair back from his eyes. He needed to stall for time until his wings could hold him again, and that wouldn't be for another minutes or two.

Another attack found itself crashing through the trees, but he dodged it and started running through the forest. Once he had enough distance between himself and the Angel, he bit his finger and swiped the blood across his hand in an 'X' shape, then pressed his palms together. There was a small cloud of smoke before a tiny animal appeared on his palm.

He pulled out the papers and gave it to the animal, "Take these with you and do not come for me until summoned. Understood?"

The animal nodded and took the papers in its mouth, then vanished. Sasuke paused from his running to make sure that he still had the Angel in view before said Angel attacked again.

Sasuke's wings were ready this time and he flipped over the water attack before taking to the skies again. He landed a quick kick, sending the Angel back a bit in the air, giving him time to start his own attack. When the Angel came back at him from his decent, he charged at Sasuke, but was met by a wall of fire before it swirled around him. With the Angel trapped in the pillar of fire, Sasuke attacked at him from above the firewall; the force of the attack driving them both to the ground.

Debris was kicked up around them when they slammed into the ground and in the confusion of the mess; Sasuke felt a foot land on his stomach. His back slammed into a tree and he was dazed for a few moments, his vision swimming in and out of focus. When his vision cleared after a few seconds, he could see the Angel running at him with a sword drawn. Sasuke jumped to his feet and drew out his Macht, forming the energy into the invisible weapon he had used early that week.

Swords clashed together as both fighters tried to get the other to yield to them. Sasuke dug his foot into the ground, effectively stopping himself from moving and started to concentrate his energy on pushing the Angel backwards. The Angel's sword started to shake from the force, and his arms began to give out. Before Sasuke could push back more, the Angel sprang away from the Demon, throwing him off balance.

They stayed separate for a moment, trying to catch their breath and figure out their next move. Sasuke knew that if he wasn't careful, he could lose this fight since the Angel's power was still high due to the Spring flux. He wasn't sure if the Angel he was fighting was only this strong because of the Spring energy or if he was holding back.

The Angel was the first to move again, attacking quickly from the front. Sasuke easily blocked the attack and his mind began to figure out that the Angel he was fighting wasn't that strong during the normal session. He ducked the kick that was aimed at his head and then knocked the Angel onto his back before standing up. All it would take was one more attack to immobilize him before he wipe the Angel's mind and call it a night.

Sasuke started to take a step forward, ready to tie the Angel down when the realization seemed to hit the Angel that he was in trouble and no match for the other fighter. He quickly back flipped onto his feet before taking to the skies. A quick glance back showed that the Demon was following closely behind and he darted towards the east. His wings flapped against the sky as he lured the Demon towards his destination; he might not have enough energy to take the fighter out, but he could make him known.

Ahead of them, dim lights shown in the dark night and the Angel grinned. Using a little more of his energy, he shot forward with more speed, dropping out of the clouds and into the lower part of the sky where the lights were much brighter and underneath him, hundreds of older Angels and Guardians walked over a large field. He flipped over onto his back as the Demon flew down to meet him, and the Angel launched one more water attack.

Sasuke growled in annoyance when he saw the water coming at him, and swung his arm out in an arch, sending another wall of fire through the water. The liquid evaporated in the air and Sasuke smirked until he saw the water coming at him from the right, too late to protect. For the second time that night, he was drenched and he found himself plummeting to the ground, but he wasn't about to go down alone. He called his element to his hand and watched with pleasure as it scorched the young Angel's wings, making him fall as well.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto grunted as he stood up, hand clutching his stomach. Kiba glanced at him and gave him a look, "You feeling okay?"

The blonde-haired Angel shook his head, "No, I think I ate too much sugar tonight, and that last ride didn't help. I might need to go lay down for a while."

Sakura felt his forehead, "Well, you feel a little warm, maybe you should call it a night."

"But you'll miss the concert." Kiba whined.

"There'll be others." Naruto said, "Besides, if Iruka finds out that I was sick last night and didn't go home, he'll go crazy."

He told them good night before slowly heading off in the direction of his house, feeling slightly bad about lying to his friends again. He rounded a corner and found the street that would lead to the entrance of the field and tried to act casual as he strolled down the street. Outside he looked fine, but inside he was tingling with excitement, despite the threat he put himself in.

'_Kyuubi, are you excited?'_

The Demon Fox didn't answer and seemed to be focusing on something else at the moment and Naruto frowned. Normally the fox was fully aware of everything that happened on this night and nothing distracted him. He tried to call the fox again but a large crash broke him from his thoughts and further down the street he could see a large crowd gathering and a cloud of dust was floating through the air.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

They both hit the ground with a sickening thud and Sasuke was on his feet a few seconds after that. His eyes darted around, taking in his new surroundings and found himself surrounded by Angels. He didn't give them a chance to get a good look as he pushed his way through the crowd hoping his opponent was knocked out and couldn't say anything.

"That guy is a Demon!"

So much for hoping.

He felt energy surge behind him and he didn't bother to look backwards; he knew what was behind him. Instead, he continued sprinting through the area, weaving his way through the crowds and stands, trying to find a place to hide. As he made his way through the crowd, he saw a single person standing still and he suddenly knew what he was going to do.

XXXXXXXXX

"Wonder what happened?" Naruto murmured, and picked up his pace.

'_**Don't.**__'_

Naruto slowed down, '_Why? Some stand probably just tipped over.'_

'_**It's not that, it's what I was trying to tell you earlier and today only confirmed my suspicion that I was correct.'**_

The Angel stopped now, ignoring everyone who was pushing by him as they tried to get to the accident. '_Kyuubi, what's wrong?'_

'_**Naruto, I need you to listen to me on this and take my word for it**__.'_

"That guy is a Demon!"

Naruto's head jerked up at the cry from in front of him and he heard Kyuubi curse, '_**Damn, he moved faster than I thought**__.'_

'_What?'_

The answer never came as he felt the Demonic aura speed towards him and blue eyes snapped up in time to see brown eyes before he felt a knife being pressed to his throat. His eyes flickered backwards at the person holding him hostage and he felt the knife press harder as he started to struggle.

"I wouldn't move too much if I were you." A soft voice said in his ear and a small shiver ran down his body.

The crowd that had been chasing after him had now stopped and the Demon smirked as he maneuvered them backwards toward the exit. The crowd of Angels parted, letting him by without trying to do anything, although, many shot him dirty looks. Sasuke grinned inwardly; Angels were such gentle creatures, never ones to sacrifice their own to get to what they wanted.

They passed by a body on the ground that Sasuke knew was his attacker. Medical Angels were looking over the body and taking care of the burnt wings when he felt his hostage draw in sharp breath and mutter a name.

"Bastard, he was only a kid."

"Then he shouldn't have attacked me."

Naruto growled, "Well you shouldn't have been here in the first place."

"You're not in the position to be telling me what I can or can't do right now."

Naruto could only grunt as he locked eyes with a blond haired medical Angel. She was doing her best to do her job and let the rest of the Angels deal with the Demon, but she was ready to attack the brown haired Demon the moment he let the Angel go. Her eyes widened as she saw tan hands slowly moving their way up towards the weapon and she tilted her head slightly towards a nearby Guardian.

"Get ready."

They were near the edge of the field and Sasuke glanced backwards to make sure that he wasn't going to be attacked from behind. Naruto felt the Demon shift slightly and knew that he would only get one shot. His right hand gripped the Demon's wrist tightly while his left hand grabbed the knife and he pushed the arm and weapon away from his neck. Sasuke felt the pressure on his wrist and he realized that Naruto was trying to escape. He tightened his grip on Naruto's waist and whipped his head around only to have Naruto slam his head into his nose.

Tears sprung to his eyes as the pain shot through his body, and somewhere in his pain-induced state, Naruto slipped through his fingers. Instantly, he felt something wrap itself around his legs as he tried to move and another rope found itself around his upper body, pinning his arms to his side. He glared at the Angels that were holding onto the ropes as he struggled to get out. Black wings appeared again, cutting through the ropes and his knife moved through the binding on his legs.

He dodged the first Angel that tried to attack him and took to the skies. He was in the air for a few seconds before someone slammed into his back and they smashed into the ground. The person on his back pushed his face into the dirt while they bound his wrist together and stripped him of his weapons. He squirmed onto his back and kicked out, landing a kick in the Angel's gut, but his attacker didn't move.

Instead, he caught the next kick aimed at him and slammed the leg into the ground. Sasuke's body rolled naturally with the motion but he couldn't help but let out a soft cry as the bone popped. He felt more hands on his body as they tried to keep him down, and he glared at the person holding onto his upper arms before he spit on their face. The Angel's face twisted in disgust, before Sasuke's world went black.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Hope you enjoyed; and for one last time read the following below if, you didn't read it above

**Read this note!!**: Heh, did I get your attention? If not it'll be at the bottom as well. Okay then, I'm leaving on July 10th to go on a month long study abroad with my school; _I will not have my computer_, which means, no updates for a month. And to add to this, when I get back, I have another small trip to pick up something for my best friend (namely her very, very, late Christmas present), and after that I'll finally be at home for about a week. Then I'm being shipped off to see my grandparents, where they have no Internet (I'm just going to be Internet deprived next month), however, I will be working on my stories up there; when I'm not watching the Olympics. Long story short; I'm going to be gone for about a month and a half. Sorry. On the bright side; should something happen to me (i.e., the plane going down), my friend knows the plotlines for my fics and promises to take care of ya'll. I will leave you now on this happy note and let you enjoy the story. **End Important Notice**


	8. Fake Answers

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing

**Warnings:** See first few chapters. If there were something to warn you of, I would warn you.

Un-beta-ed

* * *

It was too bright.

White light surrounded him in the small room. It was empty and bare with the exception of a dark glass window mounted in the wall. He knew what that glass window was for and he was not going to give the occupants on the other side any type of show. Instead, his eyes flickered down to his ankles and wrists. He growled softly when he realized that they were bound with Macht restraints.

He knew where he was; he was in a holding cell.

A curse escaped his lips. Never in his entire career of spying and assassination, had he been caught like this. Hell had detailed descriptions of holding/jail cells for reference but he never thought that he would need to use it. He glared at the offending white ceiling and contemplated his options.

He could escape now, but there were too many people at the festival that saw him and he was sure that Heaven was in a major lock down now. In addition, his escaping now would only make it harder to move.

His other choice was to stay put during the day and work at night, using his eyes to escape. He was not considered a threat to anyone in his shape shifting form and only Naruto knew about him.

That was the only problem.

If he vanished now, the blonde-haired Angel could put two and two together. Not to mention, he could not leave until he obtained what the higher ups wanted. Luckily, he knew where it was, it was just the matter of getting to it.

* * *

"Tsunade, he's awake."

The busty Angel strode over to the glass and peered into the white room where the brown haired Demon tossed an arm over his eyes.

"What should we do? This is clearly a violation of the treaty. He should be executed." A voice asked.

Tsunade sighed and rubbed her eyes, "That will only cause war to break out sooner. We need to find out why he's here and what his intentions were or are."

"He'll just lie." Someone snapped, "We can't trust a Demon's word!"

She turned to a silent figure in the corner of the room, "What do you think Jiraiya?"

He looked up and grinned slyly at her, "I'm sure Naruto would enjoy this interrogation."

A silence filled the room as the occupants thought it over. Besides being a Guardian, the blonde-haired Angel was trained to help with interrogation; the Kyuubi's senses allowing him to notice vital and emotional changes. Nevertheless, some of them still held doubts about it, even over the years.

"Is that wise though? Sending a Demon to deal with another Demon?"

Hazel eyes flashed, "He's been nothing but loyal to us and you dare accuse him of treachery now?"

The speaker was quick to shake his head and correct his wording, "Not him, the Kyuubi. Who's to say it hasn't been just waiting for a chance like this, he tricked us once, there won't be a second time."

"I have every belief that the Kyuubi has no such thing planned." Jiraiya spoke up, "If so, it would have made a move before the festival so it could take the extra energy flux. Besides, whose to say it would help Hell anyway. After all, Hell sealed him away without his consent."

It was silent as the rooms' occupants contemplated their options. They really had no other choice, with war so close on the horizon and this far into the fog, one had to move with caution in every step they took. It was a risk either option they took; they could kill the Demon now and face war within the week, or allow the imprisoned Demon to meet with another Demon and hope they didn't conspire against Heaven.

"Very well, we'll use Naruto for the interrogation squad, but he'll be under your supervision."

Jiraiya nodded, "Of course."

He exited the stuffy room of elder Angels and made his way to the hospital area where the blond was being looked over by some of the nurses. Even though he protested loudly against going. Finally, Iruka had to drag him to the hospital by his shirt and threaten him with throwing away his ramen. Needless to say, the blonde Angel complied, but still scowled the entire way.

When he reached the large white building, he asked the onsite doctor which room Naruto was in and was told that he was released already, but was waiting on the fifth floor. He took the elevator to the floor and wondered down the hall, taking the time to appreciate the view.

After turning around a corner, he finally saw a mess of yellow hair. The blond was waiting outside of a room, staring blankly at the wall in front of him. He was unmoving despite the hard chair and bandage around his neck where the knife had nicked the skin. Jiraiya sat down next to him but the bright blue eyes stayed fixed on the wall.

"I want this one."

"What?"

Naruto's head finally turned to him, "I want to be on this assignment. Guard, interrogation, something."

"Naruto…"

"No, that Demon hurt him. He's, he's just a kid."

"Konohamaru will be alright Naruto. The doctors said that his wings would heal in a week as long as he rests and he'll awake in due time. And as for the assignment, you and I are on interrogation."

"Seriously?"

Jiraiya nodded while Naruto jumped up out of the uncomfortable plastic chair, "Yes!"

The older Angel smiled, "Come on brat, lets go see our new charge."

* * *

Sasuke cocked an eye at the door as it slid open, revealing a busty blond haired Angel. Her hazel eyes glared down at him as she folded her arms across her chest, "You know; I have every right to execute you right now."

The raven sensed her hesitation and he knew that he was supposed to answer with something sarcastic, but he approached it with a different angle by staying silent. She arched an eyebrow at his silence and for a moment, they glared at each other before she let out a sigh and her eyes drifted towards a spot above his head.

"I figured you wouldn't talk, but my job isn't to get you to talk." She said, "We have others that do that, and they're very good at gathering information."

He resisted the urge to raise an eyebrow at her and instead resorted to making his face look nervous and scared. The Angel seemed to have bought it and she smirked before turning around, "Your guards will be here momentarily to lead you to a new cell where your integrators will be waiting, try anything stupid and I won't hesitate to tear your wings off."

The door was shut with a loud clang and Sasuke pushed himself into a sitting position, staring at the spot where the Angel had been. He smirked mentally; those fools had made their first mistake. By leading him to another cell, he would be able to get a better view of his holding area and figure out the security logistics. This alone would give him enough information to start working out several escape plans. He also knew one other bit of information that was valuable to his safety.

They were scared to kill him.

No doubt with war on the horizon, the death of a Demon on Heaven territory would cause on uproar in Hell and cause the spark for fighting. It seemed that the Angels didn't want to fight quite yet and were willing to over look the trespassing on their turf; even during a time when they had every right to strike him down. Perhaps the once strong Angels were going soft after years of peace.

The sound of a key sliding into the lock broke him from his musings and his head jerked up towards the door. Four Angels with masks walked towards him and the first two grabbed his upper arms, hauling him to his feet, while one took a position behind him and the other stood near the door. He eyed the weapons cautiously and stumbled when they pushed him forward, but continued to walk without any other problems.

Darkness swallowed him as he exited the overly bright cell and for a moment he was blinded by the darkness, however, his eyes quickly adjusted and they began to swivel around the area. He was in a long hallway with doors on either side. There were a few guards standing watch every few doors, but there was nothing else in the hallway; no pillars, no bars; nothing. A frown overtook his face; if his holding cell did not have any bars or windows, it would be extremely hard to trick the guards into letting him leave.

They turned around a corner and he fought to keep the surprise off his face; the place was a maze.

Sasuke had read hundreds of documented accounts on Heavens holding areas, but none of them described _this._ It seemed that Heaven had a few tricks up its sleeves and had either changed its layout recently or had more than one holding areas. There was not just one level like he thought; instead, there were multiple levels that branched off from one another. He glanced up in slight awe and took in the multiple catwalks that stretched out over him, seeming to lead into infinite darkness.

They reminded him of the many branches of a tree.

The masked guards pushed him along and they entered another darkened passageway, lit only by flickering torches. As they continued into the hallway, he felt the ground slope slightly under his feet and he made a mental note that they were going down further into the holding area. It was not a steep descent so he could not tell how far they were going down, but the ground leveled out suddenly and he almost tripped in the darkness.

There were more guards on this level; obviously, they had been told of his arrival and they watched as he passed by them with narrowed eyes. They stopped in front of a red door as a guard unlocked the door and opened it for them before Sasuke was pushed through. One of his guards forced him into a chair and strapped his arms to the armrest. He stood up and Sasuke thought he was going to leave but the man reached out and grabbed his throat, placing just enough pressure to make him gasp in pain.

"Even the damned can die again."

He gave Sasuke's throat one last squeeze before releasing it and stalked to the door. It closed with a resounding click and he was once again left alone.

* * *

Naruto followed Jiraiya as he led them through the lower levels of the holding area. He had been to this place a few times before when the older man was teaching him the basic's of interrogation, but it didn't mean that he knew all its secrets. There were still many levels he had never been to and he had heard rumors that there was an off site location that the elders kept secret from the general population; a sight that made the Demons look innocent.

He shook his head as they passed by the guards and entered the sealed room. The brown-haired Demon sat on the other side of the dark glass, staring blankly at the mirrored surface, and Naruto growled softly; there was no way he was going to let this Demon trump him again.

Jiraiya looked at the Demon for a moment before turning towards the blond Angel, "I'm going to go and talk to him first, see if I can't get anything out of him. We'll record what he says, if any, and how he acts. You'll come in later and ask the same questions and see what kind of response you get."

Naruto nodded and flopped down on the chair. He wanted to be inside the room right now, but he understood the need to catch the Demon in a lie; by doing so, they had more reason to keep him locked up and under watch for a longer time than if he told the truth. The blonde-haired Angel absently twirled a pen around his fingers and watched as the Demon's eyes glanced at Jiraiya when he entered the room, but otherwise showed no other reactions.

The older Angel sat down across from the Demon and for a moment, neither said anything. After a few minutes of silence, Jiraiya shifted in his seat, "Alright, there's no need to talk pleasantries here; we know you are a Demon and you know that we want some answers. So, let's start with the simple things, what's your name?"

Brown eyes blinked slowly at the white haired Angel, before his gaze drifted towards the mirror for a brief second. For a moment, it seemed like the Demons gaze was locked with Naruto's own before it lowed to the table again.

"Genno."

"How long have you been in Hell?"

A silence stretched over the small room as the Demon appeared to be thinking. He raised his shoulders slightly after a while, in a shrug like gesture, "I'm not sure, I guess a few years. I don't really like to count."

"What's your position?"

"Position?"

"Are you in the weapon, spy, or fighting level? Or just serving out your eternal sentence quietly, and if so, then why are you here?"

The Demon shifted in the chair before he brought his head up and Naruto raised an eyebrow at the tears that were slowly streaming down the Demons face. "It was a dare okay! My friend thought it would be fun to sneak in and see the Flux festival."

Jiraiya narrowed his eyes, "Then why did you attack an innocent Angel?"

"I freaked out, alright." He nearly screamed, "What would you have done? I knew we weren't supposed to be here, but it was too tempting to pass up."

Jiraiya ran a tired hand over his face, even if the Demon was telling the truth there was the possible chance that he would relay what he saw to Hell's higher ups. "Okay, so you were here to see the Flux festival; what did you see?"

"Food, games, rides, and some fireworks." He answered, nonchalantly.

"So how did the Angel find you?"

The Demon squirmed slightly, "We were leaving when he saw us, or rather me. My friend was below the tree level so he was able to get away."

Naruto tensed at the mention of another Demon; one that had gotten away. He noted that Jiraiya was thinking the same thing because he nodded to the Demon and told him that they were done for the day. A minute later, the door opened and the other Angel entered the room with a scowl on his face. "There was another Demon with him."

"I heard." Naruto said, "That means we need to put all Guardians on alert and have the perimeters tightened more."

Jiraiya nodded, "He's done for the day, you can talk to him tomorrow after he's calmed down some. I'm sure that there is a lie in there somewhere for you to sniff out."

"We'll also have to talk to Konohamaru to get his story as well, but he won't be awake for at least a week or so."

"If we can't pull more out of him or detect anything, then we're at a stalemate." Jiraiya said as he sat down and watched as the guards lead the Demon away. "He seems harmless now, but the injuries to the brat prove otherwise. You think his friend inflicted them and their protecting each other."

Naruto snorted, "I didn't think Demons knew about friendship and protecting others."

"Perhaps." Jiraiya stated and waved his hand, "Write the conversation down for back up and then head back for the day. It's late enough as is and no doubt you haven't gotten any sleep since yesterday."

The blond nodded and grabbed a pen from the table, "Sure, make me do all the work while you go to sleep."

Jiraiya chuckled, "You're learning."

Naruto rolled his eyes as Jiraiya left and started to write down the conversation.

* * *

Sasuke kept his face void of any emotions as the guards led him to his new holding cell. He knew he was getting lower into the building since the path sloped once again, but unlike before, there weren't as many doors, but there were more guards to the doors. They finally reached what he guessed as his cell, and he was pleased to see that it had a small window in the door.

He was pushed in and he moved to sit on the bed, as the door was slammed shut and locked. His back hit the material and he closed his eyes as the day finally caught up with him; but his mind was buzzing and wouldn't let him sleep.

A single slip of the tongue was powerful in games like this.

The busty blond Angel said that his integrators were waiting for him at his new cell and the guards outside had even announced that they were here. The only problem with that was the fact that only one Angel talked to him, and he could feel two Macht lines, not to mention, the white haired Angel often said 'we.' So he knew that there was another Angel listening behind the glass window.

Namely, one that had very familiar Macht to him; even with the restraints on him.

Seemed that Naruto was his integrator as well.

With this bit of knowledge, he was able to answer the questions that were directed at him with little trouble. It didn't take much to put up an act of a frightened teen, and making the situation sound like a dare made him seem much less harmful. However, he could only guess that they didn't believe him and would find a way to test out his story.

Meaning he had one last loose tie to tie.

The kid he attacked would tell them that he was at the school instead of the festival, and more importantly, they would find out that he could fight better than he let on. It would not take much to fix, just a simple rewriting or erasing of memories and their stories would match. But it never hurt to have an ace up the sleeve, and if he knew him like he thought he knew him, his ace would be arriving shortly.

He leaned back against the pillow and let a small smirk cross his face.

* * *

It was late by the time Naruto finished writing and submitting the documents for the conversation between Jiraiya and the Demon named Genno. He snorted, he highly doubted that was his real name and he was sure that everything else was a lie. He couldn't wait to talk to him tomorrow and spring his little secret on the Demon.

After dropping off the papers, he made his way towards the exit. There was a small nagging sensation in his mind as he left the building and he scratched his head, as if trying to rid it, but it stayed firmly anchored in his mind. And it wasn't until he stopped and turned back towards the building that it stopped.

His feet led him down to the lower levels where all the prisoners stayed and he quickly located the cell in which the Demon was staying. He nodded to the guards when he approached them, "I need a moment alone please." He said hollowly.

They hesitated slightly before agreeing and leaving him alone in the hallway. He slid the key into the hole, let himself in and shut the door behind him. His eyes slid over to the Demon reclining on the bed and he crossed his arms, fixing him with a glare. The Demon's smirk grew before he moved into a sitting position and met the icy glare.

"Uchiha."

"Kyuubi."

* * *

A/N: I am so sorry this took so long, I really am. I was gone on my study abroad for a month and I typed up what I had written, but I couldn't seem to get past that one spot. Then school started and we all know what happens after that. But it kind of just hit me a few days ago and I knew what I wanted to do, and low and behold; a new chapter. Plus side, I have a ten-hour bus drive to Nebraska this week; hopefully I will get something typed up during that time (battery time allowing). And in case anyone was wondering, Genno was the name of a trap master in the fillers and it seemed to fit.

Review please?


	9. Age Old Loyalties

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, nor do I make any money from this writing

Warning: Fluff, slight violence, the usual stuff

A/N: I truthfully have no excuse on why I haven't updated this story. I guess I blame it on writers block, life, and other fic's that wanted to be written. But this chapter decided it wanted to be written today and so I sat down and here you go. As such, this chapter is unbeta-ed so please excuse any mistakes.

* * *

Kyuubi's mouth turned into a snarl; he thought that ever since his imprisonment here, he would never have to see an Uchiha again. He loathed them and their backstabbing, treacherous ways, and for one to be in disguise here in Heaven didn't bode well for the Angels.

"What do you want Demon?" He growled lowly.

The Uchiha chuckled, "Funny that you call me a Demon with such disgust; aren't you one yourself?"

"Don't compare me to you and those things you call kin."

Red flashed in the Demons eyes and the Sharingan flared up instantly. Kyuubi ducked his head, knowing better than to look into the angry eyes, despite the calling sensation that told him to fight back.

"I'm not the one trapped in an Angel's body."

Kyuubi snorted, "Yet, here you sit in a Heaven holding cell; with my host as your interrogator."

A smile slid across the pale features, "Yes, how fortunate for me."

"What makes you think that this is fortunate for you? The realm has doubled its security; there's no way for you to escape right now." A smirk spread across Kyuubi's mouth, allowing a sharpened fang to poke out, "And what's stopping me from setting off the alarm?"

"I believe that you are indebted to the Uchiha clan, Kyuubi. If memory serves correctly, it was us who helped to protect you against Heaven's wrath and suggested to Hell that you become a Guardian after your fall."

A growl sounded from the fox's throat and his ears flattened against his head. Of course, the Uchiha would remember that and use it against him. "What do you want Uchiha? I offered your kin my assistance should you need it, but it's a one time deal."

Sasuke nodded, "I know that. I also know about your host and his special talents that allows him to be the perfect interrogator." He pushed his hair out of his face, "You will not interfere with my being here, nor will you tell anyone, including your host, who I really am."

"Is that it, or are you going to make me run rampant throughout the cities here and destroy all life on the Mortal Realm?" Kyuubi asked sarcastically.

The raven hummed in thought, "As interesting as that sounds, I don't think I'll do that. The higher ups know about the Demon powers that control you and that would just alert them to my presence. No, I want you to dull your hosts' senses, this way he won't be able to detect when I'm lying."

Faster than Sasuke's eyes could track, a hand shot out and wrapped itself around his neck, pushing his body against the wall. He hissed as his head connected with the wall and he glared into the seething red eyes. There was a quick, warning squeeze and he restrained from calling his Sharingan to his eyes. The fox couldn't kill him without raising suspicions and drawing attention towards his host. Instead, he relaxed in the tight grip and waited for the animal to speak.

"I will grant your request, as much as I loath to. Know that I only do this because of the debt to your kin, not because I approve of what you do or why you are here. But if you bring any harm to my host, our contract will become null and I'll use all my power to bring you to your knees, and Heaven's higher ups will be notified." He brought his face closer to the Uchiha's, "Do you understand?"

A smirk slipped across Sasuke's face, "I understand; no damage will come to your host. Naruto will not be harmed due to any of my actions here."

Kyuubi released his grip and the raven slid down the wall before he caught himself, "See to it, Uchiha."

Sasuke watched as the fox vanished from the room and he rubbed his neck as he sat on the bed. It seemed that the Kyuubi had taken a great interest in his host to demand that he not be harmed. Not that it mattered; he already knew that Naruto was wrapped around his finger. Between the constant attention that the blond lavished on him, Sasuke could see the briefest hints of attraction. The Angel was young and naïve compared to his experience at the game and he knew how to play the emotions to his favor.

He leaned back onto the hard surface of the bed and his eyes faded into black. Tonight would be too hard to sneak out and see the blond again, but tomorrow night would work out perfectly. If Naruto was his interrogator, then he would be busy during the day and wouldn't be able to look for the 'shape shifter' until night. He sighed as his eyes slipped shut, things hadn't turned out the way he had originally planned, but that didn't mean he couldn't use it to his advantage.

* * *

When Naruto woke up the next morning, he had a pounding headache and he groaned as the suns light hit his face. He tried to bat away the rays and rolled over to his other side, only to tip off the edge of his bed. He yelped as he fell to the ground and sighed as his body settled on the floor. At least now, the sun wasn't in his face.

Last night had been a blur and he didn't remember leaving the interrogation center, let alone coming back home. He sat up and ran a hand over his face as he ran a list of things to do through his mind. It was a long list and the top most item was to see how Konohamaru was feeling.

It had been a day since the accident and the young Angel hadn't woken up. Whatever damage the Demon's friend had done to him was enough to keep him from waking for a while and it put a slight bump in the road. They needed his testimony to compare to the one the Demon had given them. Naruto had a faint suspicion that the brunette Demon was lying and he couldn't wait to question him later today. With that thought in mind, he stood up and dragged his feet to the bathroom.

Once he was showered and dressed, his mind had cleared considerably and his nose could smell breakfast drifting through the air. It didn't take him long to eat and within moments he was out the door and making his way to the hospital. Tsunade was expecting him to stop by today before he went to met with Jiraiya later on. His footsteps quickened as the hospital loomed ahead and within moments, he was entering the gleaming white building.

He had never been to hospitals on the Mortal realm, but from what he heard, it smelt like disinfectants and sickness. Sickness was something that didn't happen in their realm, so he never knew what it smelt like, but he knew what disinfectants were and his nose wrinkled at the smell. He couldn't understand how the nurses could stand to work in the stuffy building. He much more preferred to work outside where he could feel the sun and breeze on his skin.

Naruto already knew what room the injured Angel was in and made his way to the second floor. The hallways were silent with the exception of the soft murmurs coming from rooms. Not many Angels were in the hospital today seeing as they had already recovered from any injuries due to the extra energy flux.

His hand curled around the doorknob and he pushed the door open slowly. The window was open inside the room, allowing a gentle breeze to blow into the room and a few flowers on the tables helped to brighten the room. A smile slipped across his face as he made his way further into the room and his eyes fell on the body. It was almost like the boy was asleep and was just waiting for him to get close so he could scare him.

However, his breathing remained the same and his eyes stayed shut as Naruto made his way to the edge of the bed. Blue eyes flickered to the monitors and he cocked his head at them; he could never make any heads or tails out of the machines.

"He hasn't had any changes Naruto."

The blond spun around and scowled at the older doctor, "Don't scare me like that."

"As a Guardian, you're supposed to be on alert at all times. What would you have done if his attacker came back to finish the job?"

"I would have beaten him to a pulp."

Tsunade hummed thoughtfully before answering, "I have his results here. Besides the burn marks on his wings, the brat used up most of his energy during the fight. He was lucky it was during the flux; otherwise, he wouldn't have lasted as long. I believe that his body is having a hard time compensating for the lack of energy and is keeping him unconscious so he'll recover better."

Naruto frowned, "If the Demon stated that he was scared when he attacked Konohamaru, then the damage shouldn't have been this bad. Basic Demon instinct dictates that you give enough energy to knock them down and then run. But these marks almost make it look like he was trying to kill him."

"Are you suggesting that you don't trust our guest's answer from the previous night?"

The blond snorted, "I wouldn't trust a Demon with my life. They are known to lie any chance they get. I'm starting to believe that there was no other Demon with him and that he acted alone."

"Then I suggest that you go question him. See if you can't find any loopholes in his story and than get to the bottom of this."

Naruto looked at Tsunade and he could see the deeply etched lines of worry in her eyes and face. They both knew that their time for peace was quickly coming to a close and the only thing they could hope for was a way to put it off. He nodded to her and quickly left the hospital, determined to find the underlying cause of this problem.

* * *

Sasuke scowled as he focused on the ceiling in his cell. He was bored, much more bored than he had expected to be. Although, he had to admit that Heaven wasn't as weak as he originally thought when it came to holding their prisoners. Granted, they weren't close to the cells in Hell, but he wasn't expecting them to be exactly the same.

His guards were strict, never once leaving his door until a replacement guard came to relieve them. He found this annoying, as he expected to have some lapse in security, but for all his time staying here, he was quick to realize that they weren't taking any chances. A sigh escaped his mouth; it wasn't like it was going to be a big problem. It just proved to be annoying, that's all. It meant that he would have wait until the perfect time to escape and create a double of himself.

Even if the blond was going to be watching him throughout the day, he was certain there would be times where he would be off duty. Sasuke guessed that it would be during those times that Naruto would try to seek him out. If he realized that he only saw him at random intervals, he might derive a conclusion. He wasn't about to underestimate the blond and think that he wouldn't figure something out. Weirder things had happened before.

The sound of the door opening jolted him from his thoughts and he smirked inwardly. Now was the time to see how loyal his little ace was going to be.

The fox Demon was powerful, but he was also loyal and prideful. As such, he would honor the deal they made last night, even if it was something he didn't like. Sasuke had no doubt that the fox would hold up his side of the deal.

His eyes scanned the muscular man in front of him and nearly yelped when said man yanked him from the bed. If he had been in any other position, he would have killed the man on the spot, but he swallowed his pride and allowed himself to be dragged down the hallway. He didn't recognize the path and he wondered if they were taking him to a different room. A frown crossed his place, this would be helpful seeing as he could find out the different passageways, but it was too dark to see much.

He was shoved into a bright room and he blinked the spots away from his sight. He squinted when he glanced up and scowled when he saw bright blond hair. Why did everything have to be so bright in this room?

"I take it the lighting is to your liking." A familiar voice said.

Sasuke's hands scrambled to find the edge of the table and he pulled himself from the ground. Once he was sitting upright, he felt a rough hand grip his wrist and yank it around his back. A hand pressed down on his head and his body was slammed against the table. His breath left him a single gasp and he coughed harshly.

"What do you want?" He gasped, "I answered your questions yesterday."

The blond hummed thoughtfully, "And for some reason, I don't believe you." He released the pressure on the Demon and let him sit in a chair while he took his own, "Tell me your name."

Sasuke coughed again and rubbed his wrist where the blond had grabbed it. "My name is Genno."

"You told us yesterday that you had only been in Hell for a few years or so." He waited for the Demon to nod, "How long has your friend been in Hell?"

"I never asked him." He snarled, "How long have you been dead."

There was a sharp stinging sensation across his face and he knew that he had stepped out of line. Still, he hadn't expected the blond to be this rough and demanding when it came to his job.

"My past life is none of your business. And truth be told, if you were only in Hell for a few years, you wouldn't be strong enough to leave Hell whenever you wished. Even if your friend took you, he or she would have to be extremely strong to get both of you through the barrier. So my next question is this; how did such a strong Demon come to make friends with a pathetic, weak Demon like you. Normally Demons associate with those in the same energy class."

Sasuke ground his teeth together and tried to keep his expression blank. He had never expected the blond to be this knowledgeable on the ways of Demons. Either Heaven had gained knowledge on them somehow, or Kyuubi had informed him of this information once before.

He shrugged, "Maybe he thought it would be fun to have someone weaker than him around so he could put the blame on me."

Naruto snorted, "I somehow doubt that. I actually believe that you acted alone."

The Demon stood up and slammed his hands on the table, "I wasn't by myself! I never meant to hurt him."

The blond Angel moved quickly and Sasuke found his body slammed against the door again. He gasped in pain as the doorknob jabbed against his ribs and he tried to escape the tight grip that Naruto had on his body. He froze when the blonds' mouth hovered near his ear. "I don't believe you."

His eyes widened and he felt his blood freeze in his veins. A shiver made its way through his body at the cold tone in the blonds' voice and for the first time in a while, he felt fear jolt through his body. Had the Kyuubi gone against his word?

"Those injuries were more harsh than they should have been if you were just trying to escape. There was no way he could have overpowered you enough that you had to fight him that strongly." The blond leaned closer, "Plus, he woke up this morning."

Sasuke felt his body stiffen at the next sentence that escaped Naruto's mouth, "He told us that you were alone."

"He lies." He croaked out.

Naruto released his grip on the Demon and let him drop to the ground. "I'll be back later to talk to you again."

The raven watched as Naruto swept out of the room and he blinked. There was no way the brat could have woken up and he needed to get out tonight to make sure. No doubt, though, he would be heavily guarded. An idea formed in his mind and he ignored his guards as they led him to his cell. If he couldn't get any information from his surroundings, he knew that Naruto would tell the shape shifter. Now the only question was how to get out of here.

* * *

Naruto scowled as he dropped into a chair and replayed the conversation in his mind. As much as he wanted to say the Demon was lying, he couldn't detect any changes in the brunette. Kyuubi had also been silent during the whole thing and if the fox hadn't said anything, did it mean that he was telling the truth?

He shook his head. He had to be lying; there was no other logical excuse. Perhaps Kyuubi was tired from the previous days fight and was resting so he couldn't detect anything. The blond grunted as he started to write out a report; that had to be the reason; the fox would never lie to him.

When he finished, he submitted the paper and left the center. Outside the sun was setting and he found his feet taking him home. He wanted to make sure Sasuke was doing alright. With the increased security, it would be harder for the shape shifter to move around and he wondered if was alright.

"Sasuke." He called out in a hushed tone.

"Sasuke!" He tried again, only slightly louder.

"What?"

The blond wheeled around and a small smile spread over his face, "Hey." He paused and cocked his head, "You look different."

Sasuke snorted, "Well, if you guys hadn't doubled security for some reason, I would probably sleep better."

Naruto laughed weakly, "Yeah, we had a Demon sneak in a few days ago and take out a younger Angel."

A frown crossed Sasuke's face, "Is he alright?"

"He hasn't woken up yet."

Relief flooded through Sasuke's body at the news. The blond Angel was playing a dangerous game and he was responding with an equally dangerous one. But whereas the Naruto thought he knew all the twists and turns the game could take, he controlled the game. He had not one, but two aces now. The first being the Kyuubi to help throw the blond away from the correct lead and the second was the Angel himself.

Naruto trusted Sasuke the shape shifter and told him everything that he normally wouldn't tell Genno the Demon. Then there was the underlying attraction that the blond felt for him. He could see it in the shy looks that the Angel directed at him. Sasuke already knew that Naruto was young. He had only been dead for seventeen years and had been killed at birth; that wasn't a lot of time for him to be acquainted to the emotions of love.

However, he had more than enough experience with the subject and he planned to use it to the fullest. He glanced at the blond who was glancing around his new spot and he carefully wrapped his arms around the Angel.

"You look tense." He murmured softly into his neck and he delighted in the shiver that raced through Naruto's body.

"Its been a long day."

Sasuke hummed and pulled him to the ground. As expected Naruto yelled at the act, but as the raven's hands moved over the tense shoulders, the blond's voice quieted down. The Uchiha watched as the tension melted away from his shoulders and the Angel leaned into his touch.

When he finished, he pulled Naruto back against his chest and rested his head on the blond head. He heard a soft sigh escape his mouth and he allowed a small smirk slip across his face before he dropped his voice to a husky tone, "I missed seeing you."

A blush crept across the Angel's face and he leaned forward to press his lips against the tan neck. As he trailed a path up his neck he heard Naruto's breath hitch and he nipped lightly at the skin that was presented to him. He kissed the spot and paused to listen to the noises escaping from the blonds' mouth.

"Wh-what are you doing Sasuke?" Naruto panted slightly.

He smirked against his neck, "Reacquainting myself with your body."

Naruto sputtered but didn't try to move from Sasuke's grip and he took that a sign to continue. His hands slipped underneath the thin shirt and traced the skin around the blonds' bellybutton before slowly drifting up to brush against his nipples. A moan escaped Naruto's mouth and the raven continued to tweak the small nub.

"Sasuke, stop it." He gasped.

The raven's hand stopped and he sucked on Naruto's earlobe, "You're not enjoying this?" He asked, adding a touch of hurt to his voice.

He shook his head, "No! I mean, I, I need to get back home."

Sasuke chuckled against Naruto's skin, "It's not dark yet, are you sure you want to leave now?"

The Angel didn't answer and Sasuke took the chance to grab Naruto's chin and turn his head to the side. Before the blond could figure out what he was going to do, he leaned forward and placed his lips over the blond's soft, pink ones. His fingers threaded through blond locks and he nipped at the blond's lower lip. Naruto hissed at the feeling and Sasuke was quick to slip his tongue into the other males' mouth.

For all the poor souls that Sasuke had played with, none had responded as nicely as Naruto did. He found himself drowning in the blonds' taste and he pulled Naruto's head back to deepen the kiss as his tongue explored his mouth. He felt the Angel squirm against his body and he broke the kiss reluctantly while Naruto panted for breath.

Sasuke placed another quick kiss on the Angel's lips and stood up. Night had fallen on them and he had other things to do before he diverted his energy back to the clone that lay asleep in his holding cell. During the dinner shift, he had two young guards who watched him and it wasn't hard to slip away from them once they were under a quick spell. Now he could shift back and forth between the clone in his cell, to his real body here.

He pulled the blond to his feet and watched as the dazed eyes tried to clear themselves. As much as he wanted to further and have his way with the blond, he still needed to pay a small visit to the Angel in the hospital and finish checking a few more things. After he had been left in his cell, he calculated how much longer he would need to stay, and if everything went according to plan, he could leave in less than a month.

Enough time to court the young Angel and trick him into believing his intentions were honest. He gave Naruto a chaste kiss on his forehead and muttered softly, "You should go home before your guardian worries about you. I'll be here tomorrow."

Naruto nodded as the fog slowly cleared in his mind and he headed back to his home, knowing that Sasuke was right. If he didn't get home soon, Iruka would question him and no doubt, he would question him about the marks that were sure to be on his neck.

Sasuke watched him go and a slow smirk spread across his face. Yes, the blond was still young and naïve at his age. At seventeen years of age, one was just becoming acquainted with their emotions and were much too young to define the word love, let alone think they were in love. What Naruto felt was nothing more than teenage hormones that raced through his body and lust often clouded the minds of many.

And Sasuke planned to use that to his advantage.

* * *

I can't promise that the next chapter will come quickly, because honestly, there's going to be a lemon either in this next chapter or the one after that. But feel free to yell at me for taking so long to write this one, maybe it'll help me get the next one out quicker.


End file.
